All the Time in the Universe
by NaomiGill
Summary: What if Kacey was actually Starbuck's daughter? How different would the journey to earth be? Lee/Kara. AU.
1. Half Truth

_Finally_. This was all Kara Thrace, a.k.a. Starbuck, could think. After four months stuck in cylon occupated New Caprica, she was back in _Galactica_, her real home.

She heard Chief Tyrol instructing the refugees in the back of her mind, but all she could think about was Kacey, that little girl who had already occupied one piece of her heart.

"Oh my gods," Tyrol murmured when he saw her. "Captain? I thought you were dead."

"Yeah, so did I," Kara answered, smiling.

"Oh, and who is this?" the Chief asked.

"Yeah, I also want that answer myself," Sam, her husband, said, coming from behind her.

"This is Kacey," Kara declared. "If you want further explanations about her, ask me later. Now, I need to find Cottle, so, excuse me."

Kara turned her back to them and walked through the people, leaving the two extremely confused men behind. Kacey was looking at all that people, Kara wondered if she had seen such a mob before.

"Starbuck!" someone yelled from behind her. It was Kat. "They said you were dead."

"Do I look dead to you, Katraine?" she asked.

"No, sir," Kat agreed. She looked at Kacey. "May I ask who this is?"

"Yes, you can, but you won't get an answer, at least not now. I need to find Doctor Cottle," Kara said.

"He left the Hangar Deck minutes ago, he went to the sickbay," Kat told her.

"To the sickbay? With all these people down here, he went to the sickbay?"

"The _Rising Star_ sent a large team of doctors to take care of the injured civilians. Cottle is in charge of the military in the sickbay," she explained. "But if you need something urgent, you can see one of the civilian doctors."

"No, I only trust Cottle in this," Kara said and turned to leave to the sickbay.

"Just one more thing, Starbuck," Kat said. "Don't expect me to be nice to you just because you almost died."

Starbuck look at her former nugget over her shoulder. "I'd be disappointed if you did."

--

Kara had been waiting for Cottle to call her for almost two hours. Kacey was sleeping peacefully in her arms, wrapped in a blanket that Ishay, the Medic, had given her.

"Captain Thrace," Doctor Jack Cottle called. "Come with me."

Kara got up carefully, in order not to wake Kacey and followed Cottle to his office, she had specifically asked to talk to him in private. She laid Kacey in a couch and sit in a chair in front of his desk.

"What is it so important that no one beside me can hear?" he asked grumpily.

"It is about Kacey," she said.

"The kid?" Kara nodded. "What happened to her head?"

"She fell from the stairs when we were still being held in custody by the cylons. Maybe you should take a look," she stated. "But it is not about that that I needed to talk to you. Please, you have to assure me that this talk will not leave the room."

"I'm obliged to that. Doctor/Patient confidentiality," he told her.

"When I was held by the cylons, I was forced to live with Leoben. I think you already heard of him," she started and he nodded. "Before you ask, he didn't abuse me physically or sexually. He wanted me to love him and turn us into a perfect little family. One day, that frakking toaster showed up at home with Kacey, saying that she was our daughter, that they had used the ovary that they had stolen from me to make her."

"And you want to know if it is true," Cottle finished. "You do realize that if what he said is true, that kid will be a hybrid."

"I know," she asked. "But I also need to know if he was lying."

Cottle looked at her. He had never seen Starbuck that worried. He could see that she loved that little girl and was afraid that she turned out to be half-cylon, like the bastard said.

"Just let me take some blood from the two of you and I will do the tests right away. This matter is too important to wait," Cottle said, getting up. "Go outside and let Kim take a look in the girl's head."

Kara left the office and settled in one of the beds with Kacey. Cottle came in order to take a blood sample from them.

"It's alright, Kacey," Kara assured her. "Just don't look."

She snuggled closer to Kara and let the doctor take her blood after Kara did the same.

That was the longest wait of her life. There was a lot to decide, no matter what the results would turn out to be.

"Mommy wowied?" Kacey asked.

_Mo__mmy_. How could Kara Thrace be a mother after all her own mother did? Hitting her, calling her names, saying she was worth nothing… How could she be a good mother to Kacey, when she did not have a good model to follow? But at the same time, she could not let Kacey down, abandon her. She could not be that selfish. _You'll never learn if you don't try_, she thought.

"Mommy will be fine," Kara assured Kacey. Minutes later, the little girl was once again asleep, in the bed.

After what seemed hours, Cottle called her again. She left Kacey under Ishay's care and once again entered the doctor's office.

"So, was he telling the truth?" she asked.

"Partially," he said.

"What do you mean?" Kara inquired.

"She's yours, but not his. The kid is human," he declared.

"Are you sure?" Kara asked. She was waiting for a mistake; fate had never been that generous with her.

"The results are clear, Captain. The DNA test proved she is yours," he stated.

"But what about the hybrid part?"

"You have to thank your friend Helo for that one. Due to his wife's past pregnancy, we found out that hybrids do not have a blood type. The girl is type AB. Your type is A, so her father's is B or AB," Cottle explained.

"So, she's actually mine?" Kara asked again, unable to believe.

"Yes, she seems to be about two years old. Probably, they found a way to speed up her surrogate mother's gestation. It was probably in one of those farms you mentioned when you came back from Caprica. Now get the hell out of my sickbay, I need to sleep," he demanded.

"Wait, but how will I explain this to everyone?" she asked.

"Talk to the admiral and Send them to him. Now, leave," he told her.

--

Kara was standing in front of Admiral Adama's quarters. When she left the sickbay, the first thing that occurred to her was not looking for her husband, it was to find the admiral, the closest thing to a father that she had.

She knocked on the hatch and seconds later, it opened.

"Kara," he murmured and signaled her to come in. He noticed the little girl in her arms. It was impossible not to.

As soon as she put Kacey on the floor, Kara was enveloped by a hug.

They stayed like that for a few moments. When they broke the hug, she looked at him. _He shaved his mustache,_ she thought.

"I was worried about you," he told her.

"I'm fine," Starbuck declared. "I just wanted to check if the old man was still in command."

He smiled with that comment. "The old man will always be in command."He stared at the blond toddler sitting on the floor. "Who is she?"

"My daughter, Kacey," Kara told him.

She explained the whole story to the admiral, who listened attentively.

"I guess this little girl was the only good thing those toasters ever did," Adama said. "How did your husband react?"

"I didn't tell him," she confessed.

There was a silent pause. "You will need family quarters. I'll arrange that for you when we have things more worked out."

"Why are you being so nice?" Kara asked. "I abandoned you. I moved to the planet instead of staying by your side."

"There is always a time, Kara, when parents have to let their children go," he stated. "You are the closest thing to a daughter that I will ever have, so that also applies to you."

She smiled at him. "It is honor for me, sir."

Adama looked at Kacey, who was now sitting in Kara's lap. "What do you plan to do now that you are a mother, Kara?"

"I don't know. I'm new in this. Do you imagine how nervous I am?" she asked. "What if I mess up?"

"You will lift your head up and clean the mess, like you always do."

**A/N: This is my first fiction. I hope you liked this beggining. I'll try to update soon, but I'd life some reviews.**


	2. Mini Buck

**A/N: Here is the second chapter. I didn't leave you hanging, like you asked.**

Major Lee "Apollo" Adama was in the hangar deck with his wife, Anastasia Dualla, when he heard of the news. Starbuck was alive. Not only alive, but also had she brought a child with her. But what everybody wondered was who that child was.

"I don't imagine where they can harbor this many people," Dualla told her husband.

"The important thing is that they are alive. I'm going to help them, Dee," he told her.

"And you'd better sweat, see if you burn all that fat," she murmured to herself.

Lee joined Tyrol and Helo, who were guiding the refugees around the deck.

"We will try to find you better accommodations somewhere else in the fleet, but for now, you will have to stay here," Helo was saying.

"How's it going, Chief?" Lee asked Tyrol.

"Slowly, but we're getting there. Sir, you look…" the Chief was staring at the Major, trying to find words to describe his new appearance, "…healthy."

"Can you finish this for me, Chief?" Helo asked him. "I need to speak to Major Adama."

"Sure," Tyrol agreed.

Helo turned to Lee. "Permission to speak of the record, sir."

"Granted."

"We're back in the fight, sir. It is time you start working in getting fit again. I never thought that someday I'd look at you and be able to call you a lardo," Helo said.

Lee sighed. "You're right. I need you to help me elaborating a training plan. An intensive training plan."

"My pleasure, sure. Just don't expect me to be nice," Helo warned Apollo.

--

Kara was in the bunkroom, watching Kacey sleep in the bunk, when Sam came in.

"Do you care to explain me why you are taking care of this kid?" Sam asked. That was the question that the other people in the room were asking themselves.

"Not here, Sammy," she told him in a low voice, in order not to wake Kacey. She got up and left the room, followed by him, leaving Kacey sleeping there.

She closed the hatch and guided him to the closest cleaning closet.

"Kara, who is that kid?"

"She's my daughter," she answered.

"What? How?" He was confused, very confused.

"Remember when I was shot in Caprica? The toasters took one of my ovaries and used one of the eggs to create her."

"That is insane, Kara. How could you believe them? She's probably a toaster that they brought here to spy us!" he said.

"She's human!" Kara shouted. "Cottle confirmed it. And she's mine, according to the DNA test. Leoben said she was also his, but he lied."

"So, you are taking care of her, now?" he asked.

"Yes, I am. It scares the frak out of me, but I am in this," she declared.

"Kara you are my wife! We have to make these decisions together!" he said.

"Not for long, Sam," Kara told him.

"What?"

"Back in New Caprica, things were different. I love you, Sam, but not in the husband and wife sense. I married you because it was easy, because it was safe. But I didn't think how selfish it was. We're better off as friends. I'm going to ask for the dissolution of our marriage."

"But…" he started.

"I'm sorry, Sam, I screwed up," she said before leaving to the bunkroom again.

She walked through the corridor in the bunkroom's direction. There, everyone was staring at the little girl sleeping in Starbuck's bunk. Kara was getting sick of all that, so she decided to come clean once and for all.

"Her name is Kacey and she is my daughter," she announced.

"But how is it possible, Starbuck?" Racetrack asked.

"If you have any doubt, ask the admiral, he knows the whole story. Now, excuse me, I need to sleep." She lay next to Kacey and closed the bunk's curtain.

--

In the following day, Admiral Adama called Kara to his office.

"I found you some family quarters," he announced. Kacey was sitting in his lap, playing with his dogtags. One day after meeting her, the admiral was already wrapped around his 'granddaughter's' little finger.

"It was not necessary, sir," Starbuck told him.

"Yes, it was Kara," he said. "Families have the right to have family quarters. You and Kacey are a family."

Kara smiled when Adama said that. "Thank you, sir."

"We'll have to adjust your flight schedules to the period when the daycare is working," he told her. "I can't say that being a parent is easy Kara, but I'm sure you will do well. How did Sam react?"

"He was overwhelmed. I'm requesting for our marriage's dissolution," she declared.

"Why?"

"I am just correcting a mistake. I should have not married him in the beginning. I don't love him that way. I used him to forget."

Adama sighed. "I was rather surprised when you and Sam got married. You rushed things, Kara. But if this is what you want, you will have my support. Just remember, now you have someone that completely depends on you."

"Kacey comes first," she agreed. "I told the guys in the bunkroom to ask you, if they want to know how Kace is my kid. I'm not in the mood to repeat the same story over and over."

"I will take care of that, don't worry," the admiral assured her and got up from his sit. "Let me show you your new quarters."

He guided them through the corridors until he reached a hatch close to the entrance of the hangar deck. He opened it to reveal some modest quarters.

"You have your own bathroom and an extra bedroom. I will try to find some clothes and toys for your daughter."

She was about to thank him but the interrupted her. "There is no need, Kara, after all, you made me her honorary grandfather, and it is my duty to spoil her."

"You are getting soft," Kara told him.

"Don't tell anyone, I have to keep my reputation," he said.

--

Lee Adama was in his father's quarters waiting for him. He needed to discuss the new flight schedules with him.

"Lee," Bill Adama said. "I didn't know you were waiting for me."

"I was told you would be here, but you were not," Lee said.

"I was showing Kara her new quarters," he explained.

"She is moving there with Anders?" he asked.

"No, she's going to separate from him," Bill informed him. "She says it was a mistake marrying him in the first place."

_You don't even imagine how big it was, _Lee thought. He remembered that morning in New Caprica, when he was told that Kara had gotten married, after declaring her love for him.

"But if she's not with Anders, why is she getting quarters?" Lee asked.

"You don't expect her to raise Kacey in a bunkroom, do you?" Bill inquired back.

"Kacey? Who is Kacey?"

"Her daughter," Bill answered.

"Wait, she adopted the little girl that she brought from New Caprica?" Lee asked, surprised.

"No, that little girl is her biological daughter," Bill stated.

Lee was incredulous. Kara had a child. A little girl. His father told him the whole story.

"That is unbelievable," Lee stated.

"It is the truth," Bill corrected him. "She needs us to be there for her, Lee. This is all overwhelming for her. Whatever, happened between you too, you should forget it, she needs us now."

_She admitted she made a mistake by marrying Sam…but not to me,_ he thought. _And I have Dee now_. "I'll think about it, Dad. Shall we proceed to work?"

--

Later that day, in the lunch room, Kara and Kacey sit with Helo and Sharon.

"So, now you have a kid," Helo said.

"Yep," Kara said, while giving a bit of food to Kacey, who gave her as look of dislike. "I know it is yucky but it is better than nothing, Kace," she looked up and noticed Sharon and Karl Agathon looking at her. "What? Do I have something in my face?"

"I'm just picturing you in a minivan," Helo joked.

"Shut up," Starbuck told him.

"Seriously, you are adjusting very well to motherhood, Starbuck," Sharon said.

"Really?" Kara asked, surprised.

"Really," they chorused, looking nostalgic.

"I'm sorry, I should not be playing mommy in front of you, you lost…"

"It's alright, Kara," Helo said.

"Hera will always be in our hearts, but we have to keep on living," Sharon said, sadly.

"Let me make you two a proposition," Kara suggested. "If you watch Kacey from time to time, you can be her Uncle Helo and Aunt Sharon."

"You mean even though I'm a cylon?" Sharon asked.

"I think you proved your humanity when you saved us from New Caprica. I may be a bitch sometimes, but I am not ungrateful."

Helo was looking at her with an eyebrow raised. "You are being nice to us, actually being nice. Starbuck is getting soft."

"No, I'm not!" she said. "We'll see who's soft when I wipe the floor with you in triad."

"Is that a bet?" Helo asked.

"Damn right, it is!" she said.

"So, if I beat you, you will admit in front of everyone that you are soft, mommy" Helo stated.

"And if I beat you, you will clean my quarters every day for the next two months," Starbuck declared.

"Prepare to lose, Starbuck," Halo said.

"Fr…," Kara stopped in time not to curse in front of her daughter.

"You really have to do something about your language, Starbuck, or one year from now Kacey will be swearing like a sailor," Sharon warned her.

Kara huffed and gave another spoon full of food to Kacey, who didn't protest this time. "You will be a little angel, won't you?"

Kacey shook her head. "That was what I was daring."

"Looks like we've got ourselves a mini-buck," Helo stated.

**A/N2: Next chapter my take a while longer to be posted. Please review, and maybe I'll be quicker.**


	3. Making Amends

Laura Roslin, Kara Thrace and Bill Adama were gathered in the latter's office.

"Just sign here, Captain," Roslin instructed Kara. They were filling the paperwork to register Kacey as Kara's daughter. "We'll leave the spaces destined to the father in blank, just in case."

"It is highly unlike that we find who her father is, Laura," Bill said.

"Still, it will be simpler. Now, according to Doctor Cottle, Kacey is about Twenty Four months old, but we do not know her actual birthday," Roslin explained.

"Use the Exudos date, it was the day when it was confirmed that she was mine," Kara said.

"Alright, so that is set Kacey Thrace is registered as the daughter of Kara Thrace," she said. "Congratulations, Captain. I did not have the pleasure of meeting Kacey yet."

"She is with Helo now," Starbuck said. "I can drop by later if you want. I need to go, I have CAP now."

"Be careful out there, Kara. Kacey needs you," Adama reminded her.

"Yes, sir," she said.

--

Hours later, Apollo was waiting for the return of Starbuck and Hotdog after CAP.

The vipers arrived to the Landing Bay with no problem.

"No cylon movement?" Helo asked lee when he arrived with Kacey in his arms.

"Nope," he answered without turning. "Hey, is the training session still up?"

"Of course it is, I just need to deliver a 'package' to Starbuck. Expect to sweat a lot. You'll wish that you were dead by the end of the training," Helo told him.

"You keep…" Lee was not able to finish, because he noticed a blond toddler in Helo's arms. "Hi, there."

Kacey giggled and hid her head behind Helo's neck.

"Oh, don't you start pretending to be timid, kid," Helo told his surrogate niece.

"Is this Starbuck's kid?" Apollo asked.

"Yeah, this is Kacey Thrace. Pretty, isn't she?"

"Yeah, pretty," Lee repeated. Finally, Kacey stopped hiding and looked at him. She had Kara's hazel eyes. "Hi, Kecey."

"This is Apollo," Helo told her.

"'Pollo?" she asked, giggling again. "Mommy!"

Lee turned to face Kara walking in their direction.

"Major Adama," she said.

"Captain Thrace," he responded. "Cute kid."

"She's mine," Kara told him.

"I heard."

She turned to Helo. "Thanks for watching her, Helo."

"My pleasure."

"Come on, Kace. Let's go to our room, it is washing time," Starbuck told her daughter.

"With bubbles?" she asked, excitedly.

"Loads of bubbles," Kara promised. "Then, we'll visit Madam President and Grandpa."

"Grandpa Bill!"

"Yeah, Grandpa Bill," she confirmed. Helo put Kacey in the floor and Kara held her hand. "Let's go, kid. Oh, and by the way, Helo, I want to see my bathroom shinning tonight, especially the toilet."

Helo groaned.

"Bye Unca Helo, bye 'Pollo" the little girl said, waving at them until they disappeared through the hatch.

"Why did she tell you that she want her bathroom shinning?"

"I lost a bet in triad," Helo said. "Now, I am her new housemaid for two months."

"She was always creative in her bets," Lee stated. Kacey is calling Grandpa to my father?"

"Yeah, apparently, he's already wrapped her little finger," he answered. "I never imagine seeing Starbuck as a mom. But now, it seems like it fits her like say a glove."

Lee simply nodded. There was something about Kacey that intrigued him. Probably the Starbuck inside her. His conversation with Kara had been civilized. Too civilized. But her eyes were screaming that she was sorry for what she did in New Caprica.

"She seems too adorable to be Starbuck's kid," Hotdog murmured behind them.

"Don't you have things to do, Constanza?" asked Apollo in a threatening tone.

"Yes, sir. I was just leaving," he stated, nervously.

"Defending Starbuck?" Helo asked.

"Shut up."

"Training time, Mr. CAG. Move your fat ass to the Gym!" Helo demanded.

"Hey, I'm your superior!" Apollo complained.

"And I am your personal trainer, now, MOVE!"

--

Kara was drying Kacey's blond hair with a towel after she gave her a bath.

"Let's see what clothes your grandpa brought for you," she said.

She opened the bag that the Admiral had left in her quarters and gasped in disbelief.

"You've got to be kidding me," she said, lifting a pink dress with ribbons. "There is no way a child of mine will something this…girly."

She threw the dress to the closest chair and started checking the other clothes. "Now, it is better." The other items were simpler. No ribbons and very little pink.

In the bottom of the bag, there was a not.

_Laura picked the __pink dress, not me._

_The 'Old Man'_

"That explains a lot," Kara murmured.

A while later, Kara and Kacey were walking through the corridor in the Admiral's quarters' direction.

Bill Adama and Laura Roslin were already waiting for them.

"So this is the famous Kacey," Laura said. "Hi, I'm Laura."

"The Pesident?" she asked.

"Yes, but you can call me just Laura," the president said.

She stood there, interacting with the child while Kara and Adama talked to each other.

"She misses the children. Teaching," he said.

"It is hard not to do what you like the most. I missed flying all that time in New Caprica," Kara said. "I thought I wouldn't, but I did."

"We all miss something," Adama told her, wisely. "Laura told me that your marriage's dissolution process is going well. Apparently, Sam did not protest."

"He's a decent guy, I think he got the point," Kara stated. "Maybe I should talk to him."

"Yeah, you should," he agreed. "Will you try to find out who Kacey's father is?"

"It would be like searching for a needle in the middle of straw," she said. "The only thing I know about him is that his blood type is B or AB."

"That is about 15 of the male humans," Adama stated. "Better leave things the way they are." Kara nodded. "You're doing a good job, Kara, she seems happy."

"I only had her for a few days," Kara stated.

"It doesn't matter, Kara, you're a good mother," he stated.

--

Samuel T. Anders was in alone in the bunkroom, lying in the bunk he was supposed to share with his wife. In the last few days, a lot had changed. They were free from New Caprica, but once more locked in the space.

"Sam?" he heard Kara calling, "Are you in there?"

"No," he answered.

She walked in his direction and pulled a chair, sitting in his side.

"I'm sorry this had to be this way," she told him.

"Me too," he murmured.

"I know you must be angry, you must hate me, but eventually, I wanted us to become friends. You are a great guy, I'd like to have you as a friend."

"I'm not angry, Kara, just disappointed. I thought that maybe we would work. I guess we didn't," he said.

"I was the one who screwed up, Sam. I'm not the same woman you got married to," she said.

"I'm wondering what I will do with my life now. There is no pyramid, no resistance…what am I supposed to do?" he asked.

"Well, you have good reflexes and quick thinking. Maybe you should join a nugget class," Kara suggested.

"Becoming a pilot?"

"Why not? Are we too good for you? You already have a call-sign, Thunderclap. That is what they used to call you when you played."

"You just want a nice opportunity to torture me," he stated.

"Chicken," she said. "I may be your soon-to-be ex-wife, but I know you. You'd do well as I pilot."

"Fine, sign me in. I give up," he declared, lifting his arms in defeat.

"So, Friends?" she asked.

"Friends," he agreed. "How's Kacey? I didn't mean what I said before, about taking care of her; it was the heath of the moment."

"It's alright. Kacey's good, she's getting used to live in here," Kara said.

"How does it feel to be a mom?"

"I thought it would be weird, me with a kid. But it feels natural."

"She changed you," Sam stated.

"Don't use that against me when you are in nugget class," she warned him, "or I'll send Thunderclap to the brig."

**A/N: Ok, just because I updated this soon, it doesn't mean that I will keep doing it. Don't get used to it. Thank you, all my reviewers, Reviews are alway welcome, so keep doing it. From now on, I will start following the episodes' plot (with some changes of course). Next chapter, will feature the episode Hero.**


	4. Hero

One month and a half had gone by since Kara's talk with Sam.

Kacey seemed to be adapting to her life in _Galactica_ and Kara was also getting used to being a mom. Her daughter was the one who gave her the strength to hold on after what she had gone through in New Caprica. When she was asked to join the Circle, a secret tribunal in charge of deciding the fate of people implicated as collaborators during the occupation of New Caprica, she promptly refused; after all she had more important things to do.

Lee seemed to be back to his regular weight after several weeks being 'tortured' by Helo. He and Dee were growing apart slowly. She used to disappear every day for a few hours and he had recently found out that she spent those hours aboard the _Aurora_ for some unknown reason.

At that moment, Kara was freaking out. As Chopper was sick she had to replace him in night-CAP, but the daycare was closed and both Helo and Sharon were busy, so she had nowhere to leave Kacey.

She was walking through the corridors with her sleeping daughter in her arms, hoping to find Cally or someone else she could leave Kacey with.

"Frak!" Starbuck had to be in her viper in five minutes.

"What's wrong Captain?" she heard someone asking.

She turned to face Lee. "I didn't find anyone to watch Kace, sir."

Lee sighed. He loved that kid. Sometimes, Helo would bring her to their training sessions in order to intimidate him with a mini-Starbuck, but she always ended up convincing Helo to end the sessions earlier. "You can leave her with me."

"Are you sure, sir?" Kara asked him. He was still mad at her, she knew it. She recognized that what she did was unforgivable. But now, he was offering to help her.

"She saved me a few times from Helo's torturing attempts when we were training. She's a nice kid," he said. "Plus, it is either that or you have to take her with you in the Viper."

Kara kissed Kacey's forehead and put her in Apollo's arms. "Thank you."

"I'll be in my office," he told her.

--

Hours later, Starbuck entered Lee's office to find him lying in the couch with Kacey sleeping cuddled in him.

_What a picture_, she thought._ We could have been a family if I hadn't screwed up._

The gods knew she loved Lee Adama. He would have been a good father for her daughter. But she blew their relationship in New Caprica, she chickened out. And now he was married, out of bounds.

Kara walked in their direction. She tapped his shoulder in order to wake him up.

"Starbuck?" he asked sleepily.

"I need to take Kacey," she whispered in order not to wake the little girl. "You should go to your quarters as well."

"Yeah, you're right," he said. "She had a nightmare and wouldn't sleep without me."

"Thanks for watching her," she said.

"It's okay. I can spend some time with her when you need."

"You can't imagine how grateful I am for that," Kara told him. She lifted Kacey from the couch. "See you tomorrow."

"Yeah," he said. "Oh, and I rearranged the schedules. You have the morning off, to make up for tonight."

She thanked him and went back to her quarters.

That was the friendliest chat they had in months. Lee could not help thinking that Kacey was making them closer to each other again.

--

In the following morning, Lee woke up to find Dee dressing.

"Hey," he said.

"You arrived pretty late last night," she accused, not looking at him.

"I was busy," he told her.

"Not according to the schedules."

"What is your problem, Dee?" he asked.

"My problem is that we're growing apart, Lee! Last night, you've been doing gods know what instead of coming home. You're keeping secrets from me!" she shouted.

"I'm not the only one with secrets in this room, Dee. I know you've been sneaking to the _Aurora_ every day," he told her.

"You don't seem to mind that much. You never asked for that before," she said opening the hatch to leave. "Ever since Starbuck came back, you stopped caring about me. I am sick of this!" she yelled and closed the hatch with a bang.

--

In the afternoon, Kara was flying CAP with Kat when they identified three cylon Raiders coming in their direction.

"Galactica, this is Starbuck, I have visual contact with three raiders," she communicated to the CIC. "It looks like two of them are pursuing the third. It seems like they've been shooting it."

"_Copy that, Starbuck," _Dee's voice said. _"Can you handle them yourself?"_

"I think so," she stated. She turned the radio to Kat. "Alright, let's see if we can climb up their asses without throwing any fire. These two seem pretty occupied with the other one."

"_Any idea why Cylons would be chasing Cylons?" _asked Kat.

"Don't know, don't care. But it's the way to close the gap. I don't want to chase these frakking things any longer than I have to," Starbuck answered.

"_Yeah, Roger that,"_ Kat agreed.

They started shooting at the two pursuers until they blew up.

"_Two down, one to go,"_ announced Kat.

"Kat, check six," she warned. "Damn Kat flank right. This one is one is heading right to Galactica."

"_I'm on it, Starbuck!"_

Suddenly, some weir sounds started coming out of her radio. _"Krypter, krypter, krypter," _someone said. _"This is Bulldog. I could get out of there. I'm wounded."_

"What the frak is that?" Starbuck asked.

"_Target in running, closing in,_" Kat announced.

"_Krypter, krypter, krypter. This is Bulldog," _the voice repeated.

"Hit him with a frakking shot, Kat," Starbuck ordered.

"_Give me one second. I've almost got him lined up,"_ Kat answered.

"_Krypter, krypter, krypter__. This is Bulldog."_

"Kat, hit the frakking shot!"

"_This is Galactica," _Dee's voice said._ "Escort the raider in, I repeat, escort the raider in."_

"Kat, hold the fire," Starbuck said. "What the frak is going on?!"

After landing, Starbuck and Kat joined the admiral in the Hangar Deck and were surprised to see a guy exiting the raider. Kara kept looking at the man and then at the Admiral. It looked like they knew each other. The guy saluted the Admiral and he returned the gesture.

"Is it really you, sir?" the man asked.

Adama walked in his direction. "Yeah, it's me. Welcome home, Bulldog."

She met Helo next to the hangar's hatch.

"Who the frak is that?" she asked him.

"Daniel Novacek. From what the admiral told me, Bulldog, it is his call-sign, served under his command in Battlestar Valkyrie. Something happened and the guy disappeared," Helo explained.

"What a freak show this ship is turning into," she murmured. "I'm done for today. If anyone asks, I'm getting Kacey from daycare and going to my quarters."

--

Lee was just outside Kara's hatch, thinking if he should knock or not.

"'Pollo!"

He turned to see Starbuck there with Kacey.

"Do you need something, Major?" Kara asked.

"Kacey left her teddy bear in my office last night. I wanted to give it back to her," he said, showing her the stuffed toy and Kacey immediately ran to hug it.

"I assumed it was lost somewhere in our room," she said. "Miss Kacey here was cranky all morning because she didn't know of her little friend." She opened the hatch and Kacey came in. She turned to Apollo. "Do you want to come in? Kacey seems to be really found of you, now."

"Okay, I don't have anything more to do today," he stated.

He came in and sat next to the little girl in the table.

"Listen," Kara started. "I know that what I did was absolutely unforgivable, I screwed up big time and I regret it every day, but I wanted us to start over and try to be friendly. For Kacey. She seems to like you very much and I don't want her to be affected for my actions."

He sighed. She had finally admitted to him that she was sorry for what she had done. It was the first step. But he couldn't make things that easy or he would be exposing himself too much to her again.

"You're right, what you did was unforgivable," he agreed. "You can't just expect me to forgive and forget. It is not how it works. But so far, you did not do anything to prove that deserve my friendship back."

She was silent for a moment. "Okay, I get it. I was not expecting you to do this so easily."

"Good," he said. "I'll stay around because I like the kid and I won't fight with you in front of her. You broke me, Kara. When you married Sam after that night, you broke me."

She nodded and decided to leave them playing by themselves. _I do not deserve forgiveness,_ she thought. He was right; she had no justification to ask him what she did after what she had done to him. It was clear that he was still mad at her. The only thing she could think about now was the disappointment in his face when Sam told him they had gotten married. She asked herself why she had done that. Because she was afraid of getting too attached? That reason was not good enough. _Selfish and stupid, _her mind said.

She decided to go review the flight films, in order to forget all of that.

"Can I ask you favor?" she asked when she exited the room.

"What?"

"I need to go check something. Could you watch her for a bit?" she asked.

"Sure," he said.

--

Kara was reviewing her Viper's gun film from the fight with the Cylon Raiders.

"Why the hell do they keep missing?" she asked herself.

Then, she realized that the Cylons were deliberately missing their target, allowing Bulldog to escape.

"Frak!" she cursed.

She decided to go to Tigh with this information.

"The cylons are settled up on him," she told the colonel. "They've got a perfect point blank and no deceptions shot. They could have got him right."

"I'd say so," Tigh agreed.

"Look, Novacek was hit and smoking, flying straight level. Any nugget could commit that kill. The cylons could have wasted him any number of times and they didn't. They didn't. They let him escape."

"Cylons don't do anything by accident," he stated.

"Yeah, that is what I was thinking too. Did Novacek say how he was able to run from the cylons that were holding him prisoner? They were sick? They had a virus? I mean, how many viruses can the cylons have, sir?"

"Who knows? Maybe it was the same virus those Cylons we found were suffering."

"Yeah, or maybe they just told us a story that we'd buy," she suggested. "Something that was credible, familiar. Novacek was held prisoner on a Baseship for three years, escapes and he conveniently finds our fleet with no adjuvant and no reason to be here."

"He's trying to kill Bill," Tigh concluded, getting up. "He wants revenge."

"We've got to go there," Kara said.

--

Daniel Novacek knocked in Bill Adama's hatch. He had a gun in his belt and he was going to use it to kill the Admiral, but not without beating the crap out of him first.

"Dan, it is ni…" Adama was not able to finish because Novacek punched him.

"You bastard! I believed you were coming," he said and punched him again. "Bill Adama would never leave anyone behind!"Another punch. "When I saw that cell's door, open for me, I had to go, or I'd be dead!"

"Is that what they did, they let you escape?" Adama asked.

"Sir?" someone said in by the hatch.

Hearing that, Bulldog got the gun and shot.

--

Starbuck and Tigh heard the shot. They turned the corridor and saw someone on the floor just outside Adama's hatch, bleeding. It was Dee.

Starbuck kneeled next to her and put her hands in the injury in her shoulder, to stop the bleeding. "Go in, Colonel," she told Tigh who immediately grabbed his own gun and entered the room. "Somebody call Dr. Cottle!" she yelled.

Dee was barely conscious. "Starbuck?" she asked in a low voice.

"Hold on in there, Dee," she said.

Sharon, or Athena like everyone called her now, was running in their direction seconds later with a medical kit.

"I heard the shot and already called Cottle. What happened?" she asked.

"Novacek shot her. Find something in the kit to stop the bleeding," Starbuck told her.

Athena gave her several gauzes. "Dee, stay with us," she told Dualla, but she seemed to be blacking out. "Dee!"

"Frak! Dee!" Starbuck shouted.

**A/N: My first cliffhanger is here! What did you think of it? You know what to do. Review and maybe you'll find out what happened to Dee earlier.**


	5. One More Chance

When Lee Adama arrived to the sickbay, he found both Starbuck and Athena sitting by the door, with blood in their clothes.

"What happened?" he asked. "Gaeta called saying that I needed to come here. I just had time to leave Kacey with Cally. Why are your clothes covered in blood? Are you two hurt?"

"We're alright," Kara told him.

"Lee…this blood is not ours. It is Dee's," Sharon said.

"Dee's?" he asked, worried. "What happened to her?"

"Bulldog shot her. He was trying to kill your father but Dee shown up and he shot her," explained Kara.

"Is she…dead?" he asked, looking pale.

"We don't know. We tried to stop the bleeding but she was unconscious when Cottle arrived. He's inside with her," she told him. "The only thing we can do now is waiting."

"What about Bulldog?" he asked, anger in his voice.

"Tigh blew his brains off," she answered.

"Good," he said through his teeth.

Half an hour later, Cottle arrived with the usual cigarette in his mouth. "She'll live," he announced. "Lt. Dualla lost a lot of blood, but she's stable. If it wasn't for you two," he told Kara and Sharon, "she'd be in the other side now. There is no nerve damage, so she'll be out of here soon."

"Can I talk to her?" Lee asked.

"Son, do you really think that she's conscious after almost seeing the light?" Cottle asked. "Do yourself a favor. Go home, have a good night of sleep and come back in the morning, because she won't be awake before that."

"Come on, Lee," Kara said. She could not leave him by himself in that moment. "I'll walk you there." She turned to Athena. "Can you ask Helo to get Kacey for me? I have to clean up before I see her."

"Sure," she agreed.

Lee walked numbly with Kara by his side until they arrived to his hatch.

"You heard the Doc. She'll be fine," Starbuck told him.

"Thank you for saving her," he murmured. "We had a fight this morning. If she had died and our last words had been that, I'd never forgive myself."

"She didn't die, Lee," she said. "Get a good night of sleep. You'll be calmer in the morning."

"Yeah, I'll do that," he agreed.

--

After Starbuck was all cleaned up and had Kacey with her again, she decided to visit the admiral, who was sitting in the memorial hallway.

"Feeling sentimental?" she asked him. Kacey walked to her 'grandfather' and sit in his lap, in order to comfort him.

"Because of the trust I put in Bulldog, my photo almost became part of this hallway. Dee almost died because of me," he said.

"Stop blaming yourself," she told him. "You had no reason to suspect of him."

"You suspected him and you found out about the plan."

"Yeah, but I always suspect of everyone," she told him, smiling. "Dualla will be fine, sir."

"I heard," he said. He looked at Kacey. "Your mother is a hero today. She saved me and Dee."

"Mommy is bwave," Kacey stated.

"Very brave," he added. "Thank you for suspecting everyone, Kara."

"I'd say I was my pleasure, but I'd be lying," she told him.

--

In the following day, when Lee arrived to the sickbay, Dee was already awake. He cursed himself in his head for not coming earlier.

"Hi," he said. "Do you remember what happened?"

"Yes."

"How are you feeling?"

"Sore," she answered. "Is your father alright?"

"Yeah, he's fine," Lee stated. He looked relieved.

"Starbuck saved me, didn't she?"

"Yes. She, Athena and Cottle," Lee informed his wife.

"I have to thank them." She made a mental note not to forget that. "Listen, we need to talk."

"We can do that later," he assured her, holding her hand. "You need to rest."

She took her hand of his. "No, we need to do it now. I delayed it enough."

"Okay, if you insist…"

She sighed. "My parents are alive. They have been in the _Aurora_ since the cylon attacks. That is why I've been going there. It took me this long to find them because the ship had not been included in the database until a few weeks ago. Yesterday, when I went to your father's quarters I was going to inform him of my resignation and that I was moving to the _Aurora_ as well."

"Dee," he said. She was going to leave him. It was not that he didn't deserve it. He was a lousy husband. But really hearing that was something else, a lot more definitive.

"Let me finish," she said. "I'm tired of fighting for our marriage. It's not worth it, Lee. It is nothing more than a paper. I wanted a religious ceremony but you wanted a civil one, so we had it your way. I wanted to go to surface but you wanted to stay in space, so we had it your way once again. It's time that I think about what I want, Lee, and what I want is the divorce. This time, we'll have it my way. Being shot just made me realize how right I am. Life is too short to fight lost battles."

All she said was true. He treated her shabbily; it was time he did something good for her. "Alright, if you want the divorce, I'll give it to you. You deserve someone better than me."

"Thank you, Lee," she said.

"I am so sorry, Dee, for hurting you," he apologized. "I'll drop by tomorrow, to check on you."

"Okay."

With that, he left. His marriage was over. He didn't know if he should feel relieved or sad. He found Helo, Athena, Starbuck and Hotdog playing triad in the rec room.

"Is there space for one more?" he asked.

"Sure there is, Hotdog is almost broke, someone needs to replace him," Athena said.

"Hey! I'm the one who decides when to leave," he complained.

"Believe me, Constanza, you want to leave now, because the way things are going, by the end of next round, you'll be owing me your firstborn," Starbuck joked.

"I have CAP now, anyway," Hotdog grumbled and went to the Hangar Deck. Apollo sat in his former position.

"How's Dee?" Helo asked.

"She's as good as you can be when you are shot," Apollo stated. "We are also divorcing."

Starbuck stood silent. She had not right to be happy because of Lee's broken marriage. She did not even have the right of saying a word about that matter.

"That's life man," Helo said. "I'm sorry about that. Not everyone can have a lovely wife like mine."

"Or a brilliant husband like mine," Athena said and they kissed.

"You won't start frakking in the middle of the room, will you?" Lee asked them, not receiving an answer in return. They were too busy with each other

"Frak! I'm out of here," Starbuck said, collecting her profits. "I don't want to wait to see if that happens."

Apollo followed her outside and they walked in the corridors in silence, not even looking at each other once.

Lee was the one to break the silence.

"Look, about what we discussed yesterday" he started. "I've been thinking and I realized that maybe I should give you a chance."

"No, you were right," she said. "I don't deserve it. I frakked up."

"Maybe you didn't deserve it yesterday but now you do," Lee declared. "I asked you for a proof that you deserved my friendship and you gave it to me last night when, even though I had turned you down, you cared that I was worried about Dee and made sure I was alright."

"That doesn't make up for what I did, I don't need you to be my friend as a favor," she told him, her pride speaking louder than her heart…as usual.

"Let me finish. I am not doing this as a favor. The thing is, with Dee leaving and all of that, I need my best friend back," he explained. "I'm not saying that I will forget about what happened in New Caprica and neither am I stating that it will be easy. We have to rebuild everything from the beginning. But I am willing to give it a try."

She was speechless.

"Say yes or I'll kick your ass right here!" he told her.

"Okay, I'm in," Kara agreed.

They shook their hands and, realizing that it was not enough, they hugged, like in the old times.

"I missed you," she told him.

"I missed you, too."

"I'm sorry for being a bitch."

"Well, it is part of your charm," he said. "You can turn off the sentimental mode and return to your usual sarcastic self."

"Jerk!" she said, punching him in the chest playfully.

Apollo laughed along with her. He was aware that part of him would probably never forgive her for what she did, but that was something that he would never admit. Not even under torture, because most of all, he was glad to have his friend back.

**A/N: First of all, thank you for the reviews. I'd like to keep receiving them. The next chapter will feature the episode "Unfinished business" with severe changes, obviously.**


	6. Boxing Day

One month later, Kara was watching Apollo and Helo fighting in a boxing ring. The Admiral had re-instituted a military tradition onboard Colonial warships, in which crewmembers disregard rank and fight each other in a boxing ring to relieve tensions aboard ship.

"Go Helo!" someone shouted. Everybody was screaming and shouting for the fighters. Helo had the advantage, but Apollo was not too bad.

Athena was encouraging her husband next to the ring. Starbuck approached the fighting arena when the bell rang and joined Helo and Sharon.

"Well, if it isn't the fighting Agathons?" she said when she got there. "Having fun beating the CAG's ass?" she asked Helo.

"Loads. He's a total frakker, I'll give him that," he stated.

"Okay, I'm going to check on him," she said.

On the other side of the ring, she met Lee.

"Come on, Apollo. Smash Helo's little face. If I lose my money in that bet because of you, I'll beat your ass myself," she told him.

"I'm trying," he said. "Wish me luck!"

"This is not about luck, it is about punching the crap out of your adversary," she said.

The bell rang again and the second round started.

She joined Athena again. "Not bad," she stated when Lee punched Helo. "A couple of months ago he could barely move with all that fat."

"Come on!" Kara yelled at none of them in particular.

"Which one are you pushing for?" Athena asked.

"None, I made bets on both. I'll win anyway," she said. "But it is always nice to ask for some action."

Moments later, Cottle ordered the fight over because, according to him, Lee was not in condition to fight.

Athena jumped on Helo. "You did it, baby!"

Lee was not satisfied with the end of the fight.

"You were good," Tyrol told him.

Kara was waiting for him outside the rink. In the last month, their relationship had gotten a lot better. They teased each other like they used to and never turned down a chance to compete with each other in what came to flying. Starbuck and Apollo were back. "You'll win the next time."

He was still grumbling about still being able to win.

"Come on, stop being a pain in the ass," she told him. "Let's fix that wound in your face. It would be a pity to leave there a big ugly scar."

He sat in a chair by the door and she grabbed the first-aid kit. "Aren't you fighting today?"

She was cleaning the blood from his face. "Nope. How would you explain your two-year old daughter how you got all bruised in a day?"

"You're right," he agreed. "One year ago you'd have joined the match in a heartbeat."

"Yeah, but one year ago I did not have the same responsibilities I do today. I was not the same as today," she murmured, putting a band-aid in the cut. "There, all fixed up. Put some ice in there for the swelling."

"Thanks," he said.

"Well, I'm going to grab something to eat. Want to come? Maybe Sharon and Mr. I-kicked-the-CAG's-ass will join us," Starbuck told him.

"Okay. Weren't you supposed to beat me up because I made you lose the bet?"

"You're lucky that I also bet in Helo. I ended up winning a lot more than I would if you had won," she stated. "I was just trying to scare you."

In the ring, it was Hotdog's turn to fight.

"Who's your partner, Hotdog?" asked Tigh.

"Starbuck," he answered.

Kara laughed. "No way, Constanza. I'm just watching today. I have better things to do than fighting. Find someone else."

"Fine! Marge then," he said.

Racetrack entered the boxing arena. "Just for calling me Marge, I won't be as nice as I planned."

"Oh, Hotdog is totally frakked up," Helo said when he joined them.

"Calling Marge to Racetrak. He might as well shoot himself," Athena joked.

Helo turned to Lee. "No hard feelings, man. You can't always win, especially when I'm the one fighting in the other side."

"Such humility," Apollo said, sarcastically. "No hard feelings."

"Want to grab a bite?" Starbuck asked them.

"Frak, yeah, I'm starving," Helo said.

"Why don't you bring Kacey as well?" Sharon suggested. "You won't have much time to spend with her today."

"Good idea," she agreed. "I'll meet you in the mess hall."

--

A while later, the group was sitting by a round table finishing eating. Kacey was in Lee's lap.

"Sometimes it looks the kid likes you better than me," Starbuck joked.

"No one resists an injured guy, isn't it, Kacey?" he asked her and she giggled.

"That does not explain why she is in your lap instead of mine," Helo said.

"Because I am so much prettier than you are," Lee told Helo.

"Isn't this pathetic Starbuck? Two grown man fighting over a two-year-old kid," said Athena.

"Oh, what can I say, we the Thraces have that effect on guys, don't we, Kace? It looks like they drop in our feet like flies," Kara stated.

"Oh, don't fatter yourself, Kara," Lee told her.

Kat came into the room. "You won't believe this. The old man is fighting the chief right now!"

"Shut up," Lee said in disbelief.

"I am not kidding, I swear," she said.

Starbuck got up. "I guess we are done here. Do me a favor, Kat, and take Kacey back to daycare. I need to see that for myself." She kneeled to Kacey's level. "We're going to push for grandpa."

"Grandpa win!" the little girl said.

"We'll see," Lee said. "See you later, little soldier," he told her, ruffling her hair.

After they were left alone in the room, Kat turned to Kacey. "You're nicer than your mom, aren't you?"

"Mummy's nice," she said.

"Just as nice as Tigh," Kat replied. "Just don't tell her I said this. She'll have my head."

Kacey shook her head, meaning she would keep the secret.

--

They were watching the fight when the admiral punched Tyrol. The air between them was tense. It looked like they had something against each other.

"Nice, Admiral!" Kara shouted. "The old man's got chops. I wish I could say the same for his son," she joked, and Lee, who was right next to her, elbowed her playfully. "Come on!" she shouted at the old man.

"Come on, dad!" Lee yelled as well.

The chief started striking the admiral and latter ended up losing the round. Roslin and Cottle entered the arena in order to help Adama. The second round begun and the admiral ended up losing. Tyrol helped him up.

"When you step on this deck," Adama started, "you be ready to fight, or you dishonor the reason why we're here. Now remember this: When you fight a man, he's not your friend. Same goes when you lead men. I forgot that once. I let you get too close, all of you. I dropped my guard. I gave some of you breaks, let some of you go, before the fight was really over. I let this crew and this family disband, and we paid the price in lives. That can't happen again."

"All right, this dance is over," Tigh announced. "Get your booze and your dog tags and let's get out of here."

"I guess you can go home earlier after all," Athena told Starbuck.

"The old man finally took a stand," she murmured.

"Everything was a chaos since the exodus from New Caprica," Helo said.

Kara looked around and noticed Kat helping a very beaten Hotdog. She snorted. _Looks like he should not mess with 'Marge', _Kara thought.

"Poor Hotdog had his face turned into a cake. Well, I'm out of here," she said. She turned to leave and saw Sam making out with Diana Seelix in a corner, with a bottle of ambrosia in his hand. She smiled.

"Hey Kara! Check out my new girlfriend," he told her when he saw her.

"Seelix or the ambrosia?" she asked mockingly. "You are better be fresh for CAP tomorrow morning, Sammy, or I'll have your ass."

"I'll make sure he is, Starbuck!" Seelix said with a drunken tone.

"If these two keep drinking like that, they'll be gagging their insides out by the end of the day," Lee stated behind her.

"Let them celebrate, fatso" she said.

"I'm sorry, what did you call me?" he asked her.

"I called you fatso. Just because you're back in shape, it does not mean that I forgot the fatty Lee. Someone has to make sure that you don't get round again," Kara told him.

"I was not that bad," he said.

"Apollo, your pants would be too big for a pregnant woman in her last month," she told him. "You looked like a seal. No offence to the seals."

"Okay, is this pick-on-Lee day?" he asked. "I already have Helo controlling my diet; there is no need for you to do the same."

"And lose all the fun? No way," Kara said.

"I should be outraged," he stated.

"But you know that I am doing this for your own good," she said, giving him an innocent look.

"Sure you are," he said, sarcastically.

**A/N: I would realy apreciate reviews. Maybe it would make me update sooner...**


	7. The Passage

After the food-processing systems became contaminated, the fleet was in a food shortage. Athena was trying to pass through a huge radiation cloud in order to reach a planet with a possible food supply, but in the meantime, everyone was desperate with the lack of provisions.

Kara and Lee were walking through the corridor after sharing their last supplies with the other pilots in the bunkroom.

"Is everything alright with Kacey and this food shortage?" Lee asked.

"Yeah, your father has been supplying her. Kids are a priority in the food distribution," she said.

"Good," he said.

"She should not have to go through this," Kara sighed.

"No kid should. Things will get better, you'll see."

--

Hours later, the plan was made. It was almost suicidal. Raptors would have to escort civilian ships to the planet where the algae could be found. The risks were terribly high. The pilots were flying for themselves. They were given radiation badges that, by becoming black, would say that they had to leave the mission.

That crazy mission brought something to Kara's mind. Kacey. Who would take care of her in case she died? After a lot of thought, she decided to inform the Admiral of her decision.

"Sir, I need to talk to you," she told Adama. He agreed and took her to his office.

"What's wrong, Starbuck?" he asked.

"I need to discuss something about Kacey with you," she said. "I know that I am going in this risky mission and I have to think about everything that can happen. I want to leave some instructions about what would happen to my daughter in case I died."

"Starbuck…" he started.

"I need to do this, sir. I need to know that if something happens to me, Kacey will be in good hands," she said. "In the casualty of my death, and I don't mean only in this mission, in any situation, I want Lee to keep Kacey. I'd trust him with my life and Kacey loves him, I think he is the right choice. Promise me that you'll make sure this happens, or in case he can't you'll give her to Helo and Athena."

"You are not going to die in the mission, Starbuck. But I promise that if someday you pass away, I'll make sure your wishes will be followed."

"Thank you, sir," she said. Before leaving, she turned back to the admiral. "Please, do not tell Lee of this unless that situation arrives."

"Sure, Kara," Adama guaranteed her.

--

Starbuck decided to pay a visit her daughter in the daycare. Kacey was drawing in one of the tables, but immediately ran to her mother when she saw her and jumped in her arms.

"Mommy!" she called.

"Hey, sweetie. Mommy was going to fly, but decided to come here and say hi," she told the little girl.

She looked at Kara's face. "You sad?" she asked.

"No, I'm just tired," Starbuck lied. She hugged her daughter tightly. "Mommy loves you, Kace. Always remember that," she whispered in her ear.

"Wove you too, Mommy," Kacey answered. Kara kissed her forehead and turned to the door, leaving the room.

Everything she said sounded like a goodbye. She just hoped she was wrong.

--

The pilots were already in the raptors, getting ready to the jump. The countdown had started.

After jumping to radiation cloud, the light was obfuscating.

"Frak!" Starbuck cursed.

"_Ah, caught 'a,"_ Kat said through the radio.

"_Kat, you've got your ship?"_ Apollo asked.

"_Affirmative, Apollo. I've only got eyes on the Crigon,"_ she said. _"Relaying the coordinates."_

"_Squadron, Apollo. I have Thera Sita. Relaying the jump coordinates right now_," he communicated.

"Apollo, this is Starbuck, I've got mine," Kara told them. "Frak! I can barely hold on here."

"_I lost mine,"_ said Hotdog. _"Has anyone seen Adriatic? They lost their jump coordinates. _

"_Negative, Hotdog. Negative,"_ Apollo told him. _"I can't see anything, Hotdog."_

"_Reduce your speed, Hotdog,"_ Helo ordered. _"This is not a viper. Try to get a visual."_

"_Frak it! Frak it!" _Hotdog cursed.

"Apollo, Galactica actual, we've reached the radiation limit. We've got to jump. Count us down," the Admiral said via radio.

"_Copy that Galactica."_

"_No,__ Apollo! Hold please. Wait!"_ Hotdog begged.

"_Hotdog, list__en to me. We have to get out of here now!"_ Apollo declared.

"_No, Apollo! Please! I can find them,"_ insisted Hotdog.

"_At my sign__, Starbuck!" _Apollo said, ignoring Hotdog's insistence. _"3…2…1…Jump."_

The trips were repeated over and over again. It seemed like they were never going to do it. The pilots were frustrated, sick. Kat lost the ship she was escorting, _Carina_, and was highly frustrated.

Minutes later, Kara saw her fighting with some civilian guy, Enzo. There was something odd about them, so she decided to go look for him, finding him in a hallway, flirting with a chick.

He told her the whole story about Louanne Katraine, or Sasha, her real name. It was time to confront her.

"I took the name Louanne Katraine from a girl who died two days before the attack on Caprica. To pass me on the background checks," confessed Kat.

"Yeah, keep going," Starbuck demanded.

"I was a drug user. Enzo was my supplier. What do you want? We were truckers, okay? We just moved out of that stuff."

"You people. Some think that that was the way the Cylons infiltrated Caprica," Starbuck said. "They entered the outer colonies and then they used criminals to get them in the capital. Anyone, who's held guilty of helping the cylons, is considered a traitor."

"We did not carry cylons!"

"How do you know?"

"Because nobody knew that they looked like us," Kat told her.

"Then how do you know that you didn't?" Kara replied. "How do you know?"

"You think I'm a traitor. You think I'm a _traitor_?"

"No. I don't think you're a traitor. You're a smart young woman, that's what the old man said. You're just not smart enough to accept who you are. You see, you lied your way into the company of good people," Starbuck accused.

"Starbuck, don't tell the admiral. Please. Please don't, or I…" Kat said, looking desperate.

"Or what?"

"Starbuck, please just let me tell him myself. Please just let me. Can you do that?"

There was a long pause.

"Gods," said Kara and left Kat alone, sobbing.

--

Kat was in the locker room, breaking into Helo's locker in order to switch the radiation badges. According to hers, she was out of the mission. She needed to do one last good thing. She was willing to sacrifice herself for that.

"Stop it," someone said. Starbuck was in there. "We don't need a martyr, Kat. Don't go all suicidal because someone found the truth."

"The admiral will never accept," she said.

"He will," Kara assured her. "You are one big pain in the ass, but one of the best pilots I've ever met. Don't throw it out. I've been there. Trust me, you'll be fine." She took Helo's radiation badge of Kat's hands. "You don't need to die for us to respect you. Give yourself chance to hold on. Go to the CIC and help us from there. I'll be there when you tell the old man."

"Why are you doing this?"

"Everybody is stuck with the things they are not proud of. I didn't mean all I said about good people. I need to have a rival in this fleet or the fun would be over. You are the closest thing that I have to one."

--

Hours later, the mission was accomplished. No more ships were lost and all the pilots were back.

Kat was waiting for them in the hangar bay and Starbuck was the first to approach her.

"Sasha will be our secret. You will always be Kat for us, no need to change that," she told her fellow pilot.

"Why the sudden change of heart?"

"You were willing to give your life to save the fleet. Plus, I was a little edgy when I said all that. Leaving Kacey alone without me was not a perspective that pleased me. You are the kind of person in whose hands I'd trust mine and my daughter's life. Just don't expect me to be nice to you because of that."

With that, Kara proceeded to the daycare center. That day had been stressful enough.

"I guess now we'll have to get used to eat algae," Lee, who joined her on the way, said.

"Better that than nothing."

**A/N: Okay, Kat might be a pain in the ass, but I kind of liked her. She might be needed in future chapters. Please, review and I will update sooner.**


	8. Rapture

Two weeks later, the fleet was still mending its wounds from its passage to the algae planet. The harvest was proceeding well and seemed to be almost over.

"Hi," Lee greeted Kara and Kace when he arrived to the mess hall, sitting on their table. "Enjoying the day off?"

"Bless the moment when the old man had the idea of putting Kat and Hotdog in charge of the works in that stupid planet," Starbuck said, giving a spoon full of food to Kacey. "I was starting to get sick of going every day to that frakking desert."

"Don't curse in front of your daughter," he warned her. "I'm glad I'm not in charge of that as well. I even missed CAP."

"So did I," she said. She tried to give another spoon of food to Kacey, who promptly refused.

"Come on kid," Lee told the little girl. "Open the airlock so your mom can land the viper."

Excited with the metaphor, Kacey got in the game and let her mom feed her.

"It's almost done," Starbuck told the child. "I know that algae do not have the best taste, but that is what we have at least until we find something better." She turned to Apollo. "So…Is it true what they've been saying? There are Cylons meeting the admiral here in Galactica and Baltar is with them?"

"Yep, as odd as it seems, it is true," he confirmed.

"Is…Leoben with them?"

"No. There is D'Anna Biers, a copy of Sharon, I think it is Boomer, and that priest, Cavil," he explained.

"Boomer? The one Cally shot?" she asked.

"The one and only," he said.

"Done!" Kacey said, meaning that she did not want any more food.

"You sure?" Kara asked her, receiving a nod in return.

Minutes later, they noticed a visibly upset Athena entered the room, followed by Helo, who did not look satisfied himself.

"What's with the faces?" Kara asked.

"Hera is alive," Sharon said.

"What?"Both Kara and lee asked at the same time.

"They faked her death and took her away from us. I don't know how, but the other cylons have her now," Sharon said. "We need to get her back."

"Do you have any plan?" Lee asked.

"Yeah, but believe me, you don't want to know," Helo said.

--

The Admiral was reading in his office when Kara arrived. Kacey was spending a few hours in daycare.

"Tough day?" she asked him. "I heard that the toasters came here to have a nice little chat with you."

"I would not call it nice," Adama stated. "The chief thinks that he found the Temple of the Five."

Kara looked stunned. "The eye of Jupiter," she murmured.

"Laura also said that," the Admiral told her. "Anyway, the cylons came here to inform me that they want it and if we don't give it to them, they will attack."

"It would not be the first time they attacked. We always managed to handle them," Starbuck said. "But something tells me that this will not be a simple attack."

"It would be massive."

She sighed. They were not in a good position at all.

"Plus, they'd give us Baltar as well," Adama informed her.

She snorted. "How generous of them," Kara said sarcastically. "Another frakking idiot in our ship. Can't you ask the toasters to keep him?"

"Kara, he needs to pay for what he did," Adama told her.

"That does not mean that I have to like the idea of being in the same ship as he is," she grumbled. "Just make sure that Mr. Scientist stays in the brig. I don't want him anywhere near Kacey. He was creepy enough before he became a traitor."

"Of course he'll stay in the brig," the admiral said. "But right now, Baltar is our minor problem."

"We surely are in trouble," Kara murmured. "If we accept, we may lose a good chance of finding earth. Stupid Toasters."

--

After picking Kacey from daycare, Kara spent the rest of the day with her. Later that afternoon, someone knocked in her quarters. She opened the hatch to find Lee in there.

"Hey, what's wrong?" she asked.

"I need to talk to you. Kacey's better not listen," he declared.

"We can talk in the bedroom," she told him.

When they were both alone in the there, Lee turned to Kara.

"Helo killed Athena," he informed her.

"What?!" she asked.

"It was part of their plan," he explained. "She'll be downloaded in a resurrection ship and infiltrate in order to get Hera. Dad and the president are so mad; it looks like they'll have a stroke."

"Honestly, I would have done the same if it was Kacey. I can't say I don't understand Helo and Sharon."

"I know, but they risked a lot with that plan. And there's more," he said.

"What?"

"This sistem's sun is in a verge of becoming a supernova."

"Frak!" Kara cursed. "Why now? Of all the moments when this frakking thing could become a supernova, why did it have to pick exactly when we find the temple?"

"Geata said the same. Both Humans and Cylons arrive at the same time to this place exactly when the star is about to die. I can't be a coincidence," he said.

"The gods must have some plan," Starbuck stated.

Lee sighed. "I just hope that plan does not involve us getting killed, 'cause dad was willing to nuke the planet in order to keep them away."

"Damn it! Everything gets worse and worse! How are we supposed to live in all this mess?! These stupid toasters will end up killing us all."

"We're still alive, aren't we? We survived this so far, Kara. Losing our hope is what will doom us all."

She looked at him in the eyes and suddenly, someone knocked the door.

It was Kacey. "Mommy, Grandpa Bill outside."

"Oh, okay, honey. Let's go," Starbuck told her daughter and followed her out of the room.

--

Hours later, Kara was in the Hangar bay watching the raptors arrive with Colonel Tigh by her side. They had just jumped out of that planetary system because the star had turned into a supernova, like Geata had predicted. It turned out that the supernova itself was the Eye of Jupiter.

Sam, Hotdog and the chief exited a raptor carrying a body bag. They put it in a stretcher and Tyrol walked it in their direction, showing them that it was Baltar inside the bag.

"Is he dead?" Starbuck asked.

"No, unfortunately," he answered.

"Put him in the brig," the Colonel instructed the marines, who took the unconscious Baltar with them. "Frak, a dead Baltar would have made my day."

"Couldn't say better myself, sir," she agreed, waking closer to the raptor that Athena had just exited with Hera in her arms.

"Helo," Sharon said when her husband ran to hug both his wife and daughter. He took the girl from his wife's arms and kissed her forehead.

"We have to get her to Doctor Cottle right away," she told him.

"Okay," he agreed.

Seconds later, the platinum blond cylon, Six, also came out of the ship.

"Cylon!" someone yelled.

"Wait! Hold your fire!" Athena shouted. "She helped us escape."

"Get out of the way!" said Tigh, angrily.

"Sharon," Helo called.

She turned to six who nodded, saying that she could go, and joined Helo.

Kara walked with them to the sickbay.

"How's she?" she asked.

"I think she has an intestinal obstruction," Sharon told her. "She's getting worse by the minute."

"Cottle will fix her, you'll see," Helo assured his wife.

"I'll go warn Cottle that you're coming," Starbuck said, rushing to the sickbay.

She rushed her steps in order to get there quicker. Helo and Sharon deserved a happy ending after all they had suffering, and so did little Hera.

"Kara, wait!" she heard Lee saying, behind her. He ran to reach her. "What's with the hurry?"

"Sharon brought Hera back and she's sick," Kara explained. "I need to warn Cottle that they are coming."

Later that night, Cottle decided to keep Hera in to administrate the treatment. It was working so far, the girl did not seem to be in as much pain as she was before. Finally, all the Agathons were reunited.

**A/N: I have to confess that I am kind of disapointed. Only two reviews last chapter... (thank you reviewers). Thankfully, I am generous and decided to update anyway. I'd like feedback now. Keep sending reviews because very soon something that you've been itching to know, will be revealed. Stay Tuned.**


	9. Confessions

Two days passed since Sharon had came back with Hera, who was now out of the sickbay.

It was late in the night. Kara had gotten up from her bunk in order to get a cup of water. When she was getting back , she decided to go check Kacey. The little girl had been behaving oddly all day.

She kneeled next to her daughter's bunk and noticed that she was curled in the middle of the blankets, shivering. Kara's heart stopped. What was wrong with her daughter? She put her hand in the little girl's forehead and noticed that she was burning up.

"Frak!" she cursed in a murmur. "Kacey? Kacey, honey, wake up. Mommy needs to take you to Doctor Cottle."

The little girl opened her eyes slowly. "Mommy, feels cold," she said with a low and shaky voice.

Starbuck got up and dressed quickly. She wrapped her daughter in a blanket and carried her to the sickbay.

"It's okay, Kace. They will make you better in the sickbay," she told the little girl, who was still shivering against her body. She hoped that she was right and they would be able to fix her little girl.

She entered the sickbay to find Layne Ishay, one of the medics, in charge.

"Captain Thrace, what's wrong?"

"Kacey is burning up," Starbuck informed her.

Ishay instructed her to lay her daughter in a stretcher and examined her.

"102ºF," she murmured, reading the thermometer. "Open your mouth, sweetie," Ishay instructed Kacey. "Her throat seems fine."

Kara was holding Kacey's little hand. She seemed scared and uncomfortable. "Where does it hurt, Kace?"

Kacey covered her ears with her hands.

"Your ears hurt?" Ishay asked and she nodded.

After examining her ears, Ishay made the diagnostic. "She has Otitis Media."

"Ear infection?" Kara asked. "Is it serious?"

"It can be, but it is also regular in toddlers. I will give you something for the fever and anti-biotics," Ishay said. "Give her a spoon of each after breakfast, lunch and dinner. If she does not get better in two days, bring her back, okay?"

"Okay," she agreed.

"Do not stuff her in clothes or blankets. She needs to cool down," the medic said.

Kara nodded and held Kacey again, carrying her back to her quarters. It was almost time for breakfast and she had CAP right after that.

After putting Kacey in her bunk, she grabbed the phone. Hoshi, who had replaced Dualla, answered.

"Hoshi, this Starbuck, can you call The CAG's quarters?" she asked.

"Sure, Captain."

She waited a few seconds until she heard Lee's voice.

"Kara why did you wake me this early?" he asked in a sleepy voice.

"I can't make it to CAP this morning," she said. "Kacey is sick."

That seemed to wake him up completely. "What happened?"

"Ear infection," she explained. "Can you find someone to cover for me? I need to take care of her."

"Sure, have the time you need, I'll cover you in CAP and drop by when it is over," he said.

"Thanks, Lee," she said.

"You're welcome," he answered. "See you later." And he hung up.

Starbuck came back to the room with a humid cloth in order to cool her daughter's burning skin.

"Cold," Kacey complained when Kara put it in her forehead.

"It will make you feel better, Kace," she assured her. "Try to sleep for a while."

Kacey closed her eyes in response and slowly drifted to sleep. Kara lay next to her and watched her sleep.

She did not remember her mother ever caring for her when she was sick. When she found out that Kacey was her daughter, she got scared. She feared that she would be like her mother. But Kacey was first. She was her opportunity to make up for all these mistakes she had made. So she decided that she would make all she could to become a great mom for that little girl. Apart from a few temper tantrums (after all, she was Starbuck's daughter), Kacey seemed to be happy. Kara Thrace was nothing like her mother had been.

--

Lee arrived from CAP little before lunch-time and the first thing he did was paying a visit to Kara and Kacey.

"How is my favorite blonde feeling?" he asked the little girl.

"Head hurts," she answered.

"It will get better."

"I thought I was your favorite blonde," Kara jokingly protested.

"Sorry to disappoint you, Kara," he told her. "What do you say I go get lunch for the three of us?"

"Go ahead," she agreed.

Minutes later, Lee was back and Kara tried to feed Kacey in the bed.

"Come on, Kace, eat something," Kara pleaded.

"Not hungry," the little girl said.

"You have to eat, Kacey, in order to get better," Lee, who was also sitting next to the bed, told her.

After hearing Lee's pleading, Kacey accepted a few bites of food, but her expression made it clear that she had no appetite.

"It's probably the fever," Kara said, giving her daughter the medicine that Ishay had provided.

Kacey leaned back on the bed and quickly fell asleep. It was hard for Kara to see her little girl like that. The last time she had been that worried was when she had fallen of the stairs in New Caprica. She grabbed her daughter's plate and went back to the main room, where Lee was sit by the table waiting for her. Kara also sat by the table and sighed.

"She'll be fine. Zak and I used to have ear infections all the time when we were kids."

"I know, but it is difficult to see her in distress like she is," Kara confessed. "I'd switch with her if I could."

"Any mother would," Lee told her. He got up and kneeled in front of her. "You're doing a good job."

She looked at him deeply. It was time to hit the subject she had been avoiding for so long.

"Why do you keep backing me up after all I did in New Caprica? I know that you decided to give me a second chance, but…"

"…it seems like we've gotten even closer than we were? Yeah, I noticed," he interrupted her. "I don't know why, but it just seems natural, Kara. Maybe it is Kacey. Maybe it was what we said that night. The thing is…we changed, eventually for better. When I agreed to rebuild our friendship, I was not willing to 'expose' myself again. But I ended up doing it, mostly because I feel like I can trust you again, even if you don't feel for me the love I feel for you."

She needed to digest that information. _He still loves me? He thinks that I don't love him?!_ she asked in her head.

"Are you frakking nuts?" she asked him. "Don't you remember what I said that night? That I loved you? I was not lying. That's why I married Sam. Because loving you was too much for me to handle."

"What?" Apollo asked, almost unable to breathe.

"Lee, what I am saying is that I love you! I had more than one year and a half to get used to it. I don't fear it anymore. I just thought that you had moved on."

Unable to speak, the only thing he could do was putting his hand behind her neck and crashing his lips in hers.

She immediately kissed him back. The heat, the shivers and the lust were filling both their bodies. The last time they kissed was more than one year and a half ago, in that passionate night they shared in New Caprica. _So long ago,_ Kara thought.

The passion on that kiss was beginning to increase and the lust was talking over. Quicker than they could register, they were removing each other's clothes, needing to feel the contact between their skin. They lowered to the floor and Lee looked at her admiringly.

"This is what my heart tells me to do. What does yours say?" he whispered in her ear.

"It says: 'Don't blow this time'," she answered and they returned to their activities.

--

Starbuck and Apollo were lying on the living room floor naked, sweaty and breathing hard.

"Oh gods," Kara said against Lee's chest. "This was so stupid."

He's heart almost stopped and he looked horrified. "Stupid?!"

She rolled her eyes and lifted her head from his chest. "I don't mean us having sex was stupid, I mean having sex in the middle of the frakking floor when my daughter is sleeping in the next room whose hatch is not locked. _That_ was stupid."

She had a point in there. He had to recognize. "We could have scarred the poor girl's mind for all eternity!" he said in a shocked voice.

"Exactly, so next time, we have to be more careful," she said, leaning her head back in his chest.

"And get bigger quarters," he added.

"That is a little more difficult," she told him. "We should get dressed. You have CAG duties to do," she reminded him. "And it would be a little complicated explaining Kacey why we were naked on the floor if she finds us."

"You're right," Lee said. "I love you, Kara."

"I love you too," she replied.

"You're different. Less angry," he stated. "I like it."

"Don't get used to it, I'm still a badass," she told him.

"Keep telling yourself that," he replied.

"Shut up, sir," she told him, laughing.

--

Hours later, Starbuck was still half-numbed because of her newfound relationship with Lee Adama. _This is what you can call 'doing the CAG', _she thought with a smirk.

By the end of the afternoon, Helo dropped by to see them. After he spent a little time with Kacey, he sat with Kara by the table.

"So, Starbuck, are you spending time playing nurse so you can have a little more rack time?" he asked her, playfully.

"Did you just come by to frak with me?" she replied in a mock-threatening tone.

"Actually, I also wanted to know if you had any pictures of your own apartment on Caprica."

"Yeah," she answered, getting up and going to the locker, in order to get a box that she gave to her friend.

"Why do you need them?"

"I'm curious about something," Helo answered.

"Well, I hope you and Sharon are not planning on redecorating using the ideas from my old place," she said.

"I remember. It looked like a trash can," he stated.

"Oh thank you," she said, sarcastically.

"Do you remember one of these paintings you did?" he asked her, searching the photos.

"What about it?"

He picked one of the photos, closed the box and took another photo of his pocket, showing her both. He pointed at a photo with a symbol very similar to the one she had painted in her apartment. "This was on the temple, where did you get the idea of painting yours?"

"I don't know," she murmured. "I've just been doodling it since I was a kid. I liked the pardon."

"Wow," he said. "They built the temple four thousand years ago."

When Kara heard that, there was a flashback in her mind.

"What is it?" Helo asked.

"It's just something that Leoben said once. That I had a destiny. That it had already been written," she told him and got up. "Can you watch Kace for a while? I need answers."

"What are you going to do?"

"I'm going to talk to that blonde toaster," she said, before leaving the quarters.

--

Caprica-six was sitting in a corner when Starbuck entered her cell escorted by two marines.

"You can leave us alone," she told them and they exited the cell.

"Is there something that you need?" the cylon asked, getting up from the floor.

"Yes. What did Leoben mean when he said that my destiny was already written?" Kara asked.

"I don't know," she answered.

"Bullshit!"

"I'm not lying. Do you humans tell each other everything?" Caprica-Six asked bitterly. "The only thing I know is that he wants you to follow your destiny."

"Yeah, well, that helps a lot," Kara said sarcastically and turned to leave.

"Wait," Six said.

"What?" Starbuck asked in a bored voice.

"I have information about something else that might interest you."

"And what would that be?" she asked, not turning to the cylon.

"I know who your daughter's father is," Six declared.

Kara turned abruptly to Six, looking stunned.

**A/N: Cliffhanger! Alright my friends, you know what to do. A few reviews may convince me to end the wait earlier.**


	10. Blood Ties

The only two people in the Galactica's sickbay at the moment were Starbuck and Doctor Cottle. They were in the latter's office, looking very serious.

"Is it possible? Can he be Kacey's father?" asked Starbuck to the doctor, who was reading a medical file.

"Yes, it is. According to this file, his blood type is B. You are A and the kid is AB. But we can only be sure with a DNA test," Cottle stated.

"Can you do it?" she asked.

"Yes, I have access to his DNA sample. But you need to bring the kid in order to get hers," he told her. "By the way, Ishay mentioned that she had an ear infection. How is she reacting to the meds?"

"She still had a fever when I left her with Helo, but she was not in as much pain as she was in the morning," Kara said. "I'm better get her."

Cottle nodded and Starbuck left the Sickbay. When she arrived to her quarters, instead of Helo, it was Apollo who was there.

"What are you doing here?" she asked with an eyebrow raised.

"I came to see you, but you were not here. I told Agathon I'd watch Kacey," Lee told her.

"Oh, alright," she said.

He got up and kissed her passionately, but her answer was quite faint.

"What's wrong?" he asked

"I need to take Kacey to the Sickbay."

"Why? She's already been there in the morning."

"I know, but he needs a blood sample," she told him quickly.

"Oh, okay," he agreed. "Do you want me to go with you two?"

"No," she said. "We'll wait for the results in there and you'd be bored. I prefer us going by ourselves."

Kara entered the room and lifted Kacey from the bed, being careful not to wake her up.

Back in the main room, Lee was worried. Did she get scared? Was she avoiding him? She was keeping something from him, he knew it.

When she came back from the bedroom, Lee decided to ask her that directly.

"Are you backing away?"

"What?" she asked.

"I asked if you were backing away, Kara. You seem distant all of a sudden. Did you get scared like in New Caprica?" he said

"No," Kara replied. "I love you, Lee, nothing is going to change that. Nothing. It's just that something happened. I can't tell you what right now, but I need to work this out before I can do anything else. I promise that I will tell you when all of this is over."

He sighed in relief. So that was the reason for all that distance. "Will that thing take long?"

"I don't think so," she told him. She walked in his direction and kissed him softly. "I'm sorry; I just have to work this out."

"Okay," he said. "I'll wait for you in here." He kissed both the blondes in the forehead and walked to the bathroom, in order to take a shower.

--

Kara was sitting on a chair right next to the bed that Cottle had arranged for Kacey in the Sickbay. Her mind was flashbacking to the conversation she had with Caprica-Six.

_She was looking incredulously at the Cylon._

"_That is completely insane! How can he possibly be Kacey's father? How did you get hold of his…swimmers?" Starbuck asked._

"_We didn't. We created 12 humanoid models by ourselves. Do you really think that we needed sperm to fertilize an egg? We only needed a sample of his DNA. Do you know how easy it is to steal a blood sample from a deserted lab?"Six said._

"_But why him? Leoben seemed to be really willing to have a kid with me. Why not him? Not that I am saying that I would prefer him, I'm just curious."_

"_Don't you think we tried? It wouldn't work. We kept trying until we only had one egg left," Six said. "Then, we realized that it would only work with a human," the cylon explained._

"_But why him? There were probably thousands of samples available," Kara asked. What were the odds of that?_

"_Because you __have a unique bond," Six said. "Boomer said it herself. There is no Starbuck without Apollo and no Apollo without Starbuck. We imagined the amazing potential coming from a child conceived by the two parts of that bond."_

_Starbuck got up and signaled the marines to open the door. "You had no right to keep her away from me," she said before walking out._

Kara observed the resting child. She was looking for similarities between her and Lee. She had the exact same look he did when he was asleep. Dreamy and peaceful. How could she let that escape? And the lips. They were somewhat similar to Carolanne's, Lee's mother. Was she imagining it? Did she want it to be true so bad?

Maybe the toaster was just trying to frak with her mind. That was what they did. They were giving her hopes just so they could wash them away later and break her.

"I have the results, Captain," Cottle said.

Kara held her breath.

"We have a match. Lee Adama is Kacey's father," he declared.

She sighed in relief.

"Oh gods," she murmured. That explained a lot. The instant bond between Kacey and Lee. She was not imagining the similarities, they were there all the time.

Cottle handed her the sheet with the results. "You're going to need proofs when you tell him."

Kara accepted the sheet silently.

"Now, I would appreciate if you stopped showing up in my sickbay."

She nodded, speechless and lifted her daughter from the bed, walking back to her quarters. She found Lee sat on the couch, snoring. He had his neck in an awkward position that would surely result in a bitch of a neck ache.

She put decided to put Kacey in the Living Room bunk, where she usually slept, as she seemed to be feeling better. After that, Kara approached Lee and shook him awake.

"Hum? What?" he asked sleepily.

"I need to talk to you," she told him. "Let's go to my room."

"Okay," he agreed.

They arrived to the room and sit in the bed.

"So, that thing you had to do, is it done?" he asked.

She nodded. "Today I visited the blond toaster, I needed to ask her some things about Leoben, but she didn't know the answers. Still, she ended up telling me something that I didn't expect at all."

"What is it?"

"Lee…"she was trying to find words, but nothing came to her head. "I don't really know how to say this."

He looked at her worried. "Kara…"

"She told me who Kacey's father is," she told him.

He was not expecting that either. "Who?"

She took the sheet that Cottle had given her and handed it to him. "I'm sorry it has to be this way, but, as stupid as it sounds, I can't verbalize this."

He unfolded the paper and read it. He gulped soundly and looked at her wide eyed. "Me? But…how did they?"

She explained him what the Cylon had told her.

"So…Kacey is mine?" he asked her finally. "She's ours?"

"In every possible way," she confirmed. "I understand if you need some time alone to think. It was also overwhelming to me."

He looked thoughtful. The only thing he could think about was Gianne and the baby he had abandoned. He had been a coward, but he realized it too late. He might not be ready for that kind of relationship with Gianne, but he should not have done what he did. Now, it seemed so right with Kara… Abandoning her or Kacey was something unthinkable. She needed to know about what happened.

"I abandoned my pregnant girlfriend in Caprica," he murmured.

Her face shifted to a pained expression. "What?"

"I did. I ran away and I regretted it. But then, the cylons attacked the Colonies and they died. I was not there for them. I don't want that to happen to you or to our daughter. She occupied a space in my heart since I met her. This," he said, lifting the DNA results, "is a gods gift, Kara. I just want you to know that I made mistakes in the past, but I don't plan on ever leaving you or Kacey."

"Lee…it is not your fault they died. You'd be dead as well if you were there," she murmured. The pained expression had been replaced for a faint smile. "We have a kid. Starbuck and Apollo managed to have a daughter. Do you have any idea of how many times I imagined this?"

He put his arms around her in a tight hug. "I guess we have to thank the toasters after all," he joked.

"Once, your dad said that Kacey was the only good thing they ever did," Kacey told him.

He kissed her lightly. "So, can I move in with you? You know, if I gave up my quarters, maybe dad would give us bigger ones."

Kara raised an eyebrow. "Are you sure you don't want that just so you can frak me every night?"

"Well, that would be a bonus," he stated and sighed. "Who'd ever guess this one year ago?"

"Things were pretty rough then," she stated.

"I want us to get married…eventually," he told her.

"How eventually?" she asked.

"Soon…ish," he answered, unsure of her answer.

"You'll have to do a lot of convincing," she warned him. "You can start right now."

"As you wish, future Mrs. Adama," he replied, kissing her and helping her out of the tanks.

"I don't recall accepting," she stated, unbuckling his belt.

"I can be very persuasive."

--

Hours later, Kara woke up in an empty bed. She got up and dressed her underwear, in order to go search for her lover.

She found him in the living room, looking at Kacey, who was sleeping in her bunk wrapped around her teddy bear.

"Admiring the new Adama acquisition?" she asked him in a low voice.

He nodded. "She has mom's lips. But apart from that, she's all you."

"I noticed," Kara replied. She rested her hand in her daughter's forehead, to feel if she had any fever. "The temperature seems normal."

"Yeah, I already checked," he informed her. "We need to tell her."

"In the morning," Kara promised. "Come back to bed, we can rest a few more hours."

"Okay." He leaned to kiss Kacey's cheek and followed Starbuck back to the room.

**A/N: Congratulations to everyone that guessed Lee was the father. Yeah, that was kind of expected, but well. Now, I want reviews, feedback. Really, tell me what you think about this fiction. I need incentives to inspire me, and if I am not inspired, I can't write. So review!**


	11. Moving In

In the following morning, after Lee had gone get breakfast, Kara was in her room finishing dressing. Minutes later, she was ready and went to the living room, where Kacey was in her bunk, awake.

"How are you feeling, Kace?" she asked the little girl, kneeling next to the bunk.

"Hungry," she answered.

"Well, then I guess your appetite is back. Don't worry baby, Apollo will bring the food," she said.

"'Pollo here?" Kacey asked excited.

"Yep," Kara confirmed. Would the little girl feel the same enthusiasm after she was told that Lee was her father? Or would she feel confused?

Lee opened the hatch with their breakfast in his hands and put it in the table.

"Good morning, Ladies," he greeted them both.

"'Pollo!" Kacey shouted and ran to his arms.

"Hi, little girl," he said, lifting her from the floor and giving a meaningful smile to Starbuck.

Kara got the message. That was the moment to tell their daughter the truth.

They sit by the table, Kacey in her father's lap.

"Listen, Kace. Mommy needs to talk to you about something," Kara told her in a calm voice.

Kacey looked at Kara, interested.

"You know that the other boys and girls in the daycare have mommies and daddies," Starbuck started.

Kacey nodded in Lee's lap.

"You also have a mommy and daddy like the other children, Kace, although you've only been living with mommy 'till now," she continued.

"I have daddy?" Kacey asked.

"Yes, Kace, you have a daddy. Apollo is your daddy," Kara said finally.

Kacey shifted in Lee's lap and looked at his face. "You my daddy?"

"Yeah, Kacey, I am," he confirmed, caressing her soft blond hair. The little girl smiled and snuggled closer to him. Lee wrapped his arms around the little girl.

"Are you happy with Apollo being your daddy?" Kara asked her.

Kacey nodded excitedly. "Wov Apollo," she said.

Lee's face was covered by a huge grin. He hugged his daughter tightly. "I love you too, Kacey. I love you too."

Kara was melting seeing that scene. That was too good to be true. _This must be the part of the dream when I wake up and it is all gone._ But it was not. She even pinched herself to be sure. Kacey was really there and Lee was really her father. She had a family of her own.

"You don't mind sharing me with Lee, do you? Because he is moving here with us," she told her daughter.

"Evewy day?" Kacey asked.

"Every day," her mother repeated. "But you'll have to stay in your bunk, like a big girl, because daddies stay with mommies."

"I'm big gal," Kacey corrected.

"Nope, you're a little girl," Lee said. "Our little girl."

She giggled and hugged him. "Mine."

Apollo looked at Starbuck with an eyebrow raised. "Looks like she inherited your possessiveness."

"Well, she'll have to share this time," she stated.

"The question is: Can_ you_ share?" he told her.

"Fr… I mean, politely shut your mouth," she said, unable to curse in front of her child.

"Oh, look at Mommy using fancy words to tell me to shut up," he joked. "Should we get a curse-jar, Kara. One cubit for every swear word. Wait, in this case, maybe you should get a bucket."

"Weren't you supposed to be trying to convince me to marry you? Believe me, you won't succeed if you keep mocking me this way," she threatened.

"Accept my apologies for this mistake, Captain Thrace," he apologized in a cordial voice.

"As long as it does not happen again. Now, give me that food, I'm hungry," she said.

--

Bill Adama was walking to the CIC when he saw his son in the corridor.

"Lee," he called. Apollo immediately turned and joined his father.

"Good morning," he greeted, unable to hide his grin.

"You seem very happy today," the admiral said. "Any special reason?"

"Can we go back to your quarters?" Lee asked. "I'd rather talk about this in private."

The Old man nodded and they returned to his quarters. "So, what is the reason for that smile."

"Kacey is my daughter," he said immediately.

"Excuse me?" Bill asked.

"Kacey is my daughter. Biologically," Apollo added.

"But…how?" he asked again.

"The cylons used their technology to fertilize Kara's egg using my blood. Don't ask me how. Cottle confirmed it. Kacey is my kid," he said.

The old man was still looking incredulous, but that didn't stop him from approaching his son and give him a manly hug.

"Also, Kara and I are together now," he told his father, while hugging him.

Bill sighed and broke the embrace. That was bound to happen.

"You realize that you are breaking basically half the fraternization protocols, don't you?" he asked.

"If you want me to resign, I will, dad. I won't think twice," Lee informed his father.

"I don't want you to resign. Fraternization regs are the least of everyone's priorities, Laura even suggested that maybe we should loose them a bit," the admiral mentioned. "Just be careful. Remember, now you have a child that can be affected by your actions."

"We know," Lee said.

"Congratulations, son," Adama said. "Try to be a better father than I was."

"I will do my best, sir," Apollo said. "Maybe you were not that bad."

"I was not there, make sure you are," Bill instructed his son.

"Alright," Lee agreed. "I was going to get my things from my quarters, so if you don't mind, I'll leave."

"Sure," the admiral agreed. Lee turned to the hatch's direction. "And Lee, good luck."

"Thanks, dad," Lee said, turning around before he left.

After his son left, Bill Adama served himself with a cup of Ambrosia. He had a lot to celebrate.

--

Lee had finished packing his things and was about to start carrying them to Kara's quarters when Helo showed up.

"Congratulations, Apollo," he said. "Kara just told me everything. See if you make an honest woman of her, alright?"

"I'm doing a lot of persuasion, Helo. Let's just expect she step my webs into," he stated.

"She will. I bet she's itching to get the title of 'the CAG's wife'," Helo guaranteed him. "Need a hand with those boxes?"

"Definitely," Lee accepted.

In the corridors, they bumped with three pilots who were coming from the hangar deck.

"You're moving, sir?" Racetrack asked.

"Yes, Racetrack, I am," he confirmed.

"Oh, can I get your quarters? Hotdog snores like a pig," Kat asked.

"Shut up, Kat," Hotdog replied.

"That is up to my father," Apollo told them.

"But are you moving back to the Bunkroom?"Racetrack inquired. "I think it is already full."

"Nope," someone said behind them. They turned to see Starbuck with Athena and Kacey. "He's moving in with me so we can live in sin."

"Yeah, right," Kat laughed with Hotdog and Racetrack.

"Fine, don't believe me," Kara told them.

Athena tuned to Lee. "Are there any more boxes to carry?"

"Yes, one more and a suitcase, but I can go back and get it later," he said.

"No worries, we'll go," she said. "Come on, Starbuck."

Racetrack, Kat and Hotdog were left in the middle of the corridor alone.

"You don't think she was telling the truth, do you?" Kat asked.

"Nah," Hotdog replied. "I mean, no frakking way."

--

"Did you see their faces?" Kara asked Sharon, amused. "I imagine how they will react when they realize that I was not kidding."

"I have to confess that I was not expecting that either" she replied, lifting the box from the floor. "You and Apollo together. Kacey is Apollo's. I mean, when I was with the other cylons, I did not have access to the labs; that was up to number four."

"Simon," Starbuck murmured, putting Kacey in the floor, so she could carry the suitcase.

"Yeah, Simon," she confirmed. "Anyway, I didn't know that they could use blood to fertilize an egg."

"Insane, isn't it?" she asked.

"Totally," she agreed. "At least I got to make Hera in the conventional way."

"Sometimes I wonder what else they can do," Kara said.

They exited the room and walked back to Starbuck's quarters, where Lee was taking his things out of the boxes. Helo, instead of helping, was looking curiously at a book.

"You look so stoned in this photo, Apollo," he was saying.

"What photo?" Kara asked.

"His yearbook," Helo showed her. She put the suitcase in a chair and approached her friend in order to see the book.

"You're right!" she laughed.

"I was eighteen!" Lee protested.

"You could at least have waited and take the photo before you got high," she said.

"Well, I bet your yearbook's photo is not that charming as well," he stated.

"I had my hair painted in black, but apart from that I was perfectly normal."

"You in black hair?! That is creepy enough," Helo stated. "I have to go; our stupid CAG is stuffing us in work."

"I'm sure your CAG loves to know that you find him stupid," Lee said, sarcastically.

"Good for him," Helo told him. "Come on, Sharon. Let's leave the happy little family alone."

After they were left alone with Kacey, who was playing with her stuffed bear in the bunk, Kara turned to Lee.

"Can I frame this photo, please?" she jokingly pleaded.

"Don't you dare!" he answered.

"And I thought that you refused to breathe without checking the rules. This is pretty illegal, Major. Check out, Kacey. Daddy is a badass."

"Daddy nice," the little girl said.

"See? Kacey knows best," he declared.

"I'll get you back in that when she starts dating," Starbuck concluded.

"At least I already have a gun to shoot every guy who dares to look at her," Lee said through his teeth.

**A/N: I hope you liked this chapter. Please, keep reviewing. Your reviews are the muse that gives me inspiration to write.**


	12. The Woman King

All the pilots were gathered on the Ready Room, listening to the CAG's briefing.

"…and Kat and Hotdog, stop making races with each other during CAP. I know it is boring, but you can't distract yourselves like that," Apollo told the two pilots.

He looked at Starbuck, who was in the chair right in front of where he was standing. She gave him a nod, telling him to go ahead.

"Alright, I heard some rumors about me moving in with Starbuck," he said. The pilots were looking at him bored, waiting to hear him deny it. "That's all true. If anyone has a problem with that, feel free to say it. Also, I heard that am I am playing 'daddy' with Kacey. That is a not correct, for the simple fact that I am her _biological_ father. For more explanations, contact the Admiral. Dismissed."

Everyone's jaws hit the floor with that statement.

He exited the room and Kara followed him. "You think that will make the shut up?" she asked.

"Well, unless they create some weird story, yeah, I think it will," he said. "Good thing you explained everything to Anders before our official declaration. It would be a little uncomfortable to have him finding that way."

"I owed that to Sam. You should do the same with Dee," she said.

"I sent her a note to the _Aurora_," he said. He looked at his clock and noticed it was almost time for his CAP. "I have to go. We need to meet the President in dad's office in ten minutes."

"Yeah, we'd better hurry," she agreed. "Race you there!" Starbuck said before starting running."

"Hey!" the CAG shouted and followed her, running as well.

--

Apollo, Starbuck, the President and Admiral Adama were gathered in the latter's office.

"I told you it was good idea to leave the father's spaces in Blank," Laura Roslin stated. "We'd have to change all the papers if we had declared the father as 'unknown'"

Lee was filling the paperwork that would register him as Kacey's father. "Done," he said when he finished.

"Nope," Kara told him. "You missed something." She grabbed the papers and added 'Adama' to Kacey's name. "Now, that's better."

"Kacey Thrace Adama," the old man read. "That will give the girl a lot to stand for."

"She will do whatever makes her happy," Lee said. "We'll always back her up, no matter what."

"Still, she has a genetic predisposition to become a viper pilot," Roslin stated.

"She'll have to pass basic flight for that," Kara declared, remembering Zak.

The President got up from her chair and shook Lee's hand. "Congratulations, Major. I wish you two good luck with your little family."

"You're also a member of this family, Madam President," Lee said.

"Kacey sees you as a part of it," Kara told her.

Roslin smiled. "I am honored to be so. And as a part of this family, I'd like you to call me Laura."

"Sure, Madam… I mean, Laura," Lee corrected himself. "Now, if you don't mind, we are needed in the deck."

Minutes later, Lee and Kara were walking in the Galactica corridors along with Racetrack and Skulls, when they saw Athena and Helo.

"Hey, there he is," Lee said, mentioning Helo.

"If it isn't the mayor of Dogsville," Starbuck joked, walking with her friend.

"Hey, cut him some slack, guys," Athena told them.

"He just got a new ship full of loyal subjects," Starbuck said.

Racetrack approached Helo. "Hey, Helo, I need a favor. I have a date tonight with this nugget that I want to break in, you know? You think you can get me one of these cute sexy little cubicles you've got down there?" she joked.

"Yeah, yeah," Helo said.

"See you around, Helo," Lee told him.

"You know where to find me," he shouted.

Athena kissed him lightly, after the other pilots were gone. "You're going to check up on Hera, right?"

"Yeah, I'm going to check up on Hera," he confirmed.

--

In Galactica, rumors said that an infection was spreading in Dogsville and everyone was fearful about it.

"I don't like this, Lee," Starbuck said. She was sitting in front of his desk, helping him with the schedules. "Kacey just recovered from an ear infection last week. What if she's affected by this Mello-something disease?"

"Mellorak, Kara," he corrected her. "From what I've heard, it is only transmitted by direct contact with someone infected. Kacey barely has contact with anyone in Dogsville."

"Except Helo," she said.

"Who is already immunized," Lee told her. "Don't worry, if the infected are treated early, they get better in a heartbeat."

"Maybe you're right," she said, getting up and locking the office's hatch. "Why don't we take a break from work?"

He raised an eyebrow. "I assume that you have plans for that break."

She took her tanks off. "Damn right I do."

--

Later that day, they were with other crewmembers in Joe's bar, drinking.

"Yeah!" everyone shouted when Lee scored in the pyramid target.

"Alright, hands of stone," he told Racetrack. "Let me see what you've got."

"Put it in the hole, Marge," the bartender said, using the name Racetrack hated.

"Want to know my secret, Connor?" she asked him, scoring. "I pretend this thing is your face."

While they were playing, Helo arrived.

"Hey, it is Mellorak man, everybody run," Starbuck joked.

"Relax, the doctor vaccinated me," he told her.

"I know, or I'd already be on the other side of the ship," she told him.

"I hear it is pretty rough down there, hum?" Gaeta asked.

"Only if you're a Sagitaron," Helo replied. "Dying that way just seems so senseless."

Chief Tyrol drank the rest of the contents of his cup and put it in the counter. "Yeah, well, they won't have tears from me," he said. He joined the pyramid game. "It is bad enough my gang has to sweat through their stench. One of these days we'll wake up very pissed because there are no meds, since were shared with those…"

Lee was getting annoyed and interrupted him. "Babble or shoot," he told Tyrol, who almost hit him with the ball.

"None of these religious freaks lift a finger against the cylons in New Caprica," the Chief continued when he sit again, being replaced by Sam. "Good resistance people lost their lives."

"Knock it off, chief. I know that they are stubborn and distant from the others, but that is just the way they are," Lee told him. "It is what they believe in, and we should respect that."

Tyrol grumbled something and asked for another drink. Lee sat by Kara's side.

"Nice speech, Flyboy," she told him, passing him a cup of booze.

"Thanks," he said, accepting the cup. "So, now that you are so pleased with my oratory gifts, will you say yes if I ask you to marry me?" he murmured in her ear.

"Keep asking, maybe I'll accept eventually," she told him.

"You like this 'game'," said Lee.

"Of course I do."

Kat and Hotdog approached them.

"So, how did the cylons manage to make a kid out of you two?" Kat asked, drinking her Ambrosia.

"Why? Do you want to order one for you and Hotdog?" Starbuck asked her

Kat glared at her. "No, I'm just curious. If I ever want a kid, I'll make it the conventional way."

"Tell you what. You two cover me and Lee on CAP tomorrow and I'll satisfy your curiosity," Starbuck suggested.

"We're not that curious," Hotdog said.

"Pity," Lee said.

The two former nuggets went back to their business.

"Everyone's dying for details," Lee stated.

"Let them," she said. "I gave Sam a free card to start spreading the word in about a week, when they're all rotting in curiosity."

--

In the following day, Dogsville was a mess. Right after lunch-time, everyone was revolting against Dr. Robert, thinking that he was killing his patients. Even Helo was suspicious of the doctor.

Helo was in the middle of the crowd when he saw his wife entering the deck.

"Sharon!" he called.

"Helo," she said coming in his direction.

"What's happening?" he asked.

"How's Hera?" Sharon asked back.

"What do you mean how's Hera?"

"She got sick, about one hour ago. They called me of CAP."

"What are you talking about? No one told me," he said.

"They sent her to Dr. Robert," Athena told him.

Hearing that, Helo walked with her to the doctor's cubicle. When they entered there, Sharon immediately lifted her daughter to her arms. The girl was half-crying and coughing.

Lee arrived seconds later with Kacey.

"Apollo, are you crazy?" Helo asked. "Bringing you kid in here, where almost everyone is sick?"

"Cottle sent me. Kacey was playing with Hera all afternoon, so he thought maybe it was a good idea to have give her the medicine, as a matter of prevention, cause she was sick last week," the CAG explained.

The doctor was preparing the girls' shots.

"Okay, you know what? I don't think that she needs this," Helo told the doctor.

"This is serious! She could die from this!" Athena said.

"Let the doctor do his job, Helo," Lee said.

Robert approached Hera. "Okay, here we go." She started crying when the doctor gave her the shot. He gave a bottle of pills to Sharon. "These are sedatives in pill form. Just give her a half every six hours. And scrunch it."

"Okay. She'll be okay doctor?" Athena asked.

"She'll be fine, take her home."

"Thank you, Doctor."

The doctor said goodbye to little Hera and turned to lee and Kacey.

"She has no symptoms?"

"None," Lee confirmed. "She had an ear infection last week, so Doctor Cottle thought it was better giving her the medicine as prevention."

"He's right," he said, cleaning her leg to give her the shot.

Lee held her closer when the doctor gave it to her and felt her tremble.

"All done, she's free to go."

Instead of returning Kacey to daycare, Lee took her to his office. "You'll stay with Daddy for the rest of the afternoon, okay?"

"'Kay," she said, with a giggle.

--

Starbuck was in the ready room, lecturing her nuggets.

"…don't trust your eyes in a landing! You have to use the frakking guiding instruments! That's what they're there for!" she was shouting at her audience. "Don't follow the frakking landing bay lights or you'll end up blowing your vipers!"

She noticed two 'intruders' coming into the room and glared.

"Alright, dismissed," she said, unable to continue the lecture.

After all the nuggets were gone, she joined looked at Lee.

"What are you doing here?" she asked in a threatening voice. "I was enjoying torturing my nuggets."

"Kacey was missing her mommy, weren't you, Kace?" he asked his daughter, who nodded.

"Oh, I won't buy in that," Kara said. "You were trying to spare my nuggets!"

"Me?" he asked faking outrage.

"Yes!"

"Okay, I admit that I felt a little pity for them," he confessed.

"And you brought Kace with you because you know that I can't torture them in front of her," she finished, glaring at him.

He gulped, trying to find a way out of that situation. "Will you marry me, Kara?"

"Yes."

"Yes?"

"Yes. I was waiting for a moment when you'd not expect me to accept," she told him.

He smiled, pulled her closer and kissed her passionately.

"Yuck," Kacey said.

They broke the kiss, remembering that they were not alone.

"That's the spirit," Lee told his daughter. "Kissing is yucky."

"Stop soiling the kid's mind," Starbuck said.

"I'm just preventing," he stated.

She shook her head in disbelief.

"So, where's my ring?" she asked.

"Somewhere in this uniform," he said. "Why don't we leave Kacey with my dad so you can search for it?"He murmured seductively in her ear.

"I'm all in for searching missions," she stated, and followed her new fiancé to the admiral's quarters in order to leave Kacey with her grandfather.

--

One day later, it was discovered that Dr. Robert was not giving the medicine to the Sagitarons, killing them instead, saving it to the other colony's infected people, so Helo arrested him.

In a matter of days Hera and the other infected were cured. Kacey was alright as well.

**A/N: I am kind of disapointed. Last chapter I only had 4 reviews (thank you, reviewers). It is not that hard. I want to know what you think about this fic. So, review, please. It is not that hard. Next chapter is pretty important, so if you review, maybe I'll post it tomorrow.**


	13. A Day in the Life

Two months had passed since Starbuck and Apollo had become engaged, and three weeks since they showed up in the hangar-deck after their lunch-break wearing matching wedding rings, to everyone's shock.

All the pilots were going to the ready room for the briefing.

"Forty-nine days without a sighting," Kara heard Narcho saying. "Maybe we finally scared the toasters off."

"Oh yeah, Narcho. It's your crap flying that makes them fear get closer," she joked.

"Whatever you say, Mrs. CAG," he replied.

"Oh, the jealousy," she said, laughing.

Helo greeted Hotdog and sat next to him. He noticed Hot Dog scratching near his groin area.

"What's the matter with you?"Helo asked.

"Sorry. I've got the weirdest rash," Hotdog answered.

He blinked a few times. "Really?" he said. "I hope she was worth it, buddy." And with that, he moved one sit to his left.

Kara, who was sitting next to Athena right behind them, snorted. She patted Hotdog's shoulder.

"Karma is a bitch, isn't it, Hotdog? Sleeping in everyone's racks has its consequences," she murmured in his ear. "Is it me or Kat also seems to be experiencing the same rash as you are?" she asked, looking at her 'rival', so seemed to be trying to find a comfortable position to sit.

He gulped and did not answer.

"Ten-hut!" Helo said when Lee got in.

"At ease," Apollo told them when he reached the front of the room, and everyone sat back. "Before we get started, I want a show of hands. How many of you boneheads know how to count?"

Everyone lifted their hands, Starbuck being the last in an attempt to amuse her husband.

"Because I keep hearing numbers being thrown around the hangar deck," he continued. "Forty-seven, and then forty-eight. Now forty-nine days since our last enemy contact. Now, I realize that any higher math's probably beyond most of you, so I'm gonna make this real simple for you. O­ne is the o­nly number you need to remember. Because all it takes is o­ne pilot to let his guard down, o­ne ECO to miss a DRADIS contact, and suddenly the Cylons are o­n top of us. That's when people die. Formation flying, deflection shooting, tactics and doing 'touch and goes' until every last one of you gets an okay free. Red and Blue sections will go first, yellow and green will follow. Skid's up in ten minutes. Dismissed!"

Everyone started to leave but Kara stayed there, looking at him, grinning.

"Starbuck, if you've got a problem, you'd want to hear about it," Apollo said.

"Hum, my only problem is that you didn't preach that sermon a week ago. You should find some new material, though. The old man has been using that 'fatal mistake' thing since we first got here," she told him.

"Well, if you want to steal, steal from the best," Lee stated when he noticed the old man approaching them.

"Lunch with Kacey?" she asked, checking if their plans were still up.

"Lunch with Kacey," he confirmed.

"Sir," she greeted the old man before leaving for her duties.

Bill Adama approached Lee. "Pretty tough on them today," he stated.

"Well, a kick in the butt is worth a thousand words," Lee joked. "Gods know you kicked mine enough. Everything okay?"

"Yeah, it has been one of those mornings," he said. "The president wants to take a fast track on Baltar's trial. She wants someone to take charge of the preliminaries. Help Cable to take the legal framework. She wants me to assign you."

"You're kidding," Lee told him, incredulous.

"Interested?" the Admiral asked.

"More like surprised," he stated. "Did she say why she asked for me?"

"She's going to need someone she can trust. You definitely fit that," the old man said. "I remember when you were younger and we went visit your grandfather's house. You were fascinated with his papers and his law books."

Lee laughed. "And that was me thinking I was being sly. Sneaking into his office all by myself. Yeah, I guess it is a distant dream now, but for five minutes there I even considered being lawyer. That was one of the dozen careers that I could go into before I joined the service."

"I never knew that," his father declared.

"That was probably during one of my 'angry at dad' phases," Lee stated. "Anyway, it is impossible. Even if I wanted to help out, there was no way. CAG's duties are already 24/7 even on a light week. And I have Kacey and Kara."

"Yeah, I assumed that," Bill declared.

"Major, we're ready for you," a pilot said.

"Excuse me," Lee told his father.

--

Hours later, Lee was in the mess hall having lunch with his wife and daughter.

"You mean that he asked you to help with Baltar's trial?" Kara asked.

"Yeah," he said. "That's completely insane, isn't it?"

Kara raised her eyebrows. "Why would it be insane?"

"Kara, I have CAG duties. Not to mention that I need free-time to spend with you and Kacey," he told her, cleaning his daughter's face, which was covered in food, with a napkin.

She looked at him in the eyes. "Do you want to do it?"

He sighed. "I don't know."

"Then think about it," she told him. She looked at her daughter, who was eating by herself. "Do you want help, honey? You don't seem to be finding the right spot for the food."

Kacey giggled and shook her head. "No help."

"You have food everywhere but in your mouth, kid," Lee said. "If you want ride a viper someday, you need to learn how to land. Start training with your food."

The little girl smiled and turned back to her plate.

Figursky approached them in the table. "Sir, there was a problem with Chief and Cally. They are trapped in a depressurizing airlock. There is a leak."

"What?!" He turned to Kara. "I need to go check it." He kissed his daughter in the head and his wife in the lips.

"Make sure they get out of there okay," she told him.

--

The pilots were preparing an extraordinary rescue attempt; to blow the external door, where the Tyrols, exposed to vacuum, would have to leap into Athena's Raptor.

Apollo, Athena and Starbuck were calculating the time that took to the Raptor to close and re-pressurize.

"Seven seconds," Lee read from his watch.

"And another ten to re-pressurize, since we're doing it in open space," Kara stated. "That's pushing it."

"So, this might be a stupid question, but has anyone ever tried a rescue like this before?" Athena asked.

"No one was ever crazy enough," replied Kara.

"It doesn't matter, we don't have time. Prepare for launch," Lee said. "We've only got eighteen minutes left."

Sharon joined the deckhands preparing her raptor and Kara followed Lee.

"This is insane, Lee. Swimming in the middle of space without a flight suit?!"

"I know, but it may be their only chance," he said. "They have a son, Kara. We have to try as hard as we can."

Minutes later, they were in the raptor, right in front of the airlock.

"Galactica, Apollo. Bringing raptor to position and waiting for orders," Lee announced through the wireless. "Alright, listen up. We don't have time, so listen up before the airlock explodes. We'll probably experience some turbulence from the residual oxygen. We may even be hit by some shrapnel. Athena, you'll have to compensate."

"I'm on it, major," she said. "We'll hold position until Chief and Cally are secured."

"Let's just get this done," Kara said.

The raptor's door opened.

"Galactica, Apollo, the raptor's door is opened. We're standing by. Ready to execute."

Seconds later, the airlock's door blew up and pieces of it hit the raptor.

"Wow, watch out!" Lee shouted.

"We're in position," Athena declared.

"Pull up!" Apollo shouted, in order to catch the Tyrols. "Hold it right there!"

Along with Starbuck, he was able to catch the couple.

"Galactica, Apollo. The raptor is secured and re-pressurized. They're in bad shape, we've got them to the sickbay right away!"

--

One week later, Kara was in the sickbay to receive her monthly contraceptive shot. Cottle was preparing her injection.

"Will this take long?" she asked. "I have a nugget class in a few minutes."

Cottle approached her with the needle in his hand. "If you are in such a hurry, you should have come earlier, Captain," he told her. "Lift up your tanks, so I can give you the shot."

"Your wish is my command, Doc," she joked, lifting her tanks like the doctor had asked her.

When he was about to give her the shot, Cottle noticed something that made him stop and put the needle away.

"What's wrong, doc?" she asked, bored.

"How long do you have this line?" he asked her, pointing at a dark vertical line in her abdomen that started right behind her belly bottom.

"It's been there for a few days, maybe a week," she answered. "Why? Is that bad?"

"This is called a Linea Nigra," he said. "Ishay, bring me an ultrasound machine."

"Doctor, what is going on? I really need to go to that nugget class. Just give me the shot," she told him.

Ishay appeared with the machine.

"Call the CAG and tell him to cancel his wife's nugget class," Cottle told her.

"Yes, sir," the medic replied.

Kara huffed. "So, this Linea Nigra thing? What is it?"

"It is related with something in your reproductive system," Cottle answered, putting the gel in her belly, so he could start the ultrasound.

"Like having an ovary missing?" she asked bitterly.

Cottle was too busy looking at the machine's monitor to answer. "Here it is," he murmured to himself, lighting a cigar with his free hand.

"Didn't you hear me, Doctor? I asked if this could be related with my missing ovary," she repeated.

"No," Cottle grumbled. He turned the machine's monitor to Kara whose heart almost stopped when she saw its image. It was a very small baby.

"This is the cause of your Linea Nigra. Say hi to your new kid, Captain, you're pregnant."

**A/N: Alright, Starbuck's pregnant. Review, tell me what you think and maybe I will update soon. Not tomorrow, probably.**


	14. Dealing

Lee was in the Hangar Deck when the chief called him, saying that there was a phone call for him.

"Adama here," he said.

"_Major, this is Layne Ishay from the sickbay," _he heard a feminine voice say.

"Yes, Ishay. Is there any problem?" he asked.

"_Doctor Cottle asked you to cancel your wife's nugget class, because she won't make it there in time"_ Ishay said.

"Wait, is there something wrong with Kara?"

"_Doctor Cottle didn't say," _she told him. _"I need to hang up, sir."_

"Yeah, sure," he murmured and put the phone down. "Chief!"

"Yes, Major," Tyrol, who was fixing a viper a few feet away from him, said.

"I need to do something. If someone asks, I'm in the sickbay."

--

Kara was in shock, sitting in a chair, still looking at her baby's frozen image in the opposite side of the room.

"I can't be pregnant, I mean, I am taking the shots!" she said.

"The fetus is about ten weeks along," Cottle said. "That is around the time you received the first shot after that long break from them. Did I tell you to avoid sexual intercourse in the first two weeks after the shot, because it would not work then?"

Starbuck remembered him telling her something like that. But that was around the time she and Lee got together.

"I must have forgotten it," she murmured.

"Damn right you did!" Cottle told her. "Didn't you notice your period was missing, or the morning sickness?"

"I thought it was the stress what was keeping me from having my period, and that I got a stomach bug."

"You did have a stomach bug, just not the regular kind. Now, handle the consequences. No smoking, no drinking, and especially, no flying vipers!"

"No flying?!" she asked in disbelief.

"Yes, I am revoking your viper flight status. However, you can be ECO for raptors for the next, let's say, month and a half, as long as you don't pilot them. And don't even think of go out there fighting toasters!" he said. "Come back in a month for a checkup." After that, he got up and returned to his office.

That was a little too much information to absorb that fast. _I came here for a contraceptive shot and found out I was pregnant, _she thought. _I can't pilot anything for eight months or more. _She could not fly for more than half a year, but that didn't seem to bother her that much. She was having a baby.

"Kara?" she heard someone calling.

"Hum?" she asked.

"Kara, talk to me!" She returned to the real world and saw Lee kneeling in front of her.

"Hi," was all she managed to say.

"They called me saying that you could not make it to the nugget class. What's wrong?" he asked.

She pointed at the image in the ultrasound monitor behind her husband's back and he turned to see it.

"Is that…" he started.

"Our kid? Yeah," she finished for him.

"We're having a baby?" he asked incredulously and she nodded.

"You think we can handle Kacey and another child?"

He smiled. "We can do anything together," Lee said and kissed her lightly.

"Excuse me!" Cottle said. "Get yourselves a room. This is a sickbay!"

They obeyed the old doctor and went to their own quarters.

"I guess I have to congratulate you, Mr. CAG," she said, after she recovered from the shock. "You managed to get our best pilot out of rotation."

"I recall you also being in there, Mrs. CAG," he replied.

Kara lay on the couch and Lee lifted her tanks, putting his ear against her stomach.

"What are you doing?" she asked laughing.

"Trying to hear our baby," he said.

"Lee, it's been less than three months since the kid was conceived," she stated. "You won't hear a thing. Plus, aren't we supposed to be in the deck?"

He sighed against her belly. "You're no fun." He got up from the floor and she did the same.

Putting his arms around his wife, he walked with her back to the hangar deck.

"Do you think Kacey will like the idea of having a new brother or sister?" asked Kara.

"I don't know," he said. "Let's hope she doesn't mind. We need to be careful telling her."

"Yeah," she agreed. They reached the hangar deck kissed goodbye.

"We'll explain her during our lunch break, in our quarters, okay?" Lee suggested.

Kara nodded, smiling. She entered the Ready Room and found Racetrack teaching the nuggets instead of her.

"Captain on deck!" one of the nuggets announced.

"Starbuck, I was told to cover you today," Racetrack said.

"Oh, it's okay," she said, still with that silly smile in her face. "I was just checking if they were in good hands. I'll be in the Hangar Deck for today."

"Okay."

--

Sharon was taking care of her raptor when she saw Starbuck entering the deck and walking in her direction

"Need help?" she asked. "I'm so bored."

"I could use some," replied Athena. She looked at her fellow pilot and noticed the huge smile. "Okay, who are you and what did you do with our Starbuck? You look all bright and shiny."

"Do I?" Kara asked, unsuccessfully trying to take the smile of her face.

"Yeah, you do," Sharon confirmed. "What happened?"

She sat in the raptor's ramp and unconsciously put her hands on her stomach. "Nothing."

The raptor pilot raised an eyebrow and noticed the protectiveness Starbuck was showing by putting her arms around her stomach. "You know, I think you just gave yourself away, Kara. Is there something in _your uterus_?" she asked mischievously.

Kara's eyes shot open. She grabbed Sharon by the arm and dragged her inside of the raptor.

"How the frak did you know?"

"I had a kid myself, remember. I used to do the 'stomach hugging' thing all the time."

"Okay, I admit it! Just, try not to talk about it much. I was counting on telling Kacey first," she stated, in a murmur.

"My mouth will be closed," Sharon promised. "How far along are you?"

"Ten weeks according to Cottle."

"So, how do you feel?"

"Like I always do," Starbuck told her. "I had a few morning sickness but I swear I thought it was just a food poisoning. If Cottle hadn't shown me, I wouldn't believe it. Also, I was hoping you'd do me a favor."

"Name it," she said.

"Cottle said that, because of the baby, my duties as a pilot are reduced to being an ECO for the time being," Kara explained.

"And you never worked as an ECO," Athena finished.

"Exactly. So, could you or Helo help me with that? I know how it works; I just need a little training."

"It is not that different from what you do in a viper, but it is okay, talk to Lee, ask him to come along with us in a few CAPs and we'll fill you in," she agreed.

"Thanks, Sharon," Starbuck said. "Now, I need something to do, or I'll go nuts."

--

When Kara arrived to her quarters, Lee had not arrived with Kacey, yet, so she decided to take a shower. She had been working on repairings all morning and had motor oil everywhere.

After showering and getting dressed, she heard the quarter's hatch closing.

"Kara?" Lee asked.

"In the bathroom," she shouted. "It's just a minute."

Like she promised, one minute later, she met her husband and daughter in the kitchen.

Lee walked in her direction and kissed her passionately.

"Hi again," she said when they broke the kiss.

"Ready to tell her?" he asked.

"No," Kara replied, nervous. "Can't we just show up with the kid when it is born and let her get used to it?"

"Starbuck afraid of telling something to someone? I never thought I'd live to see it happening," Lee joked, being hit in the back of his head in return.

They sit on the couch with Kacey in the middle, but when Lee was about to speak, the alarm started sounding.

"_Action station, action stations. Condition one through all the ship, this is not a drill. I repeat, action stations, action stations. This is not a drill,"_ Geata's voice sounded through all the ship.

"Oh, gods," Kara said.

"Stay here, Kara. I'm asking you for the baby's sake. Please stay here," Lee whispered in her ear.

"Alright," she agreed. She could not endanger the baby. The other pilots would have to handle things this time.

Kacey was clearly looking scared. Lee kneeled in front of her. "It's okay, Kace. It's okay, your mommy will be here with you." He kissed her forehead and got up.

His wife hugged him tightly. "Don't you die on me."

"I will do my best," he said, and ran to the hangar.

Kara looked at Kacey. "Come on, baby, let's put you in bed, so you can take a nap," Kara told her.

They walked to the room, and Starbuck put her daughter in hers and Lee's bunk.

"Mommy stay?" the little girl asked.

"Yeah, Mommy stay." She lay next to Kacey in the bed and let her cuddle in her arms.

A few minutes later, she heard the quarter's hatch open. _Lee's back, looks like they got rid of the toasters pretty fast, _she thought.

Steps sounded in the room, but Kara kept her back turned to the entrance, not to wake her sleeping daughter.

"She just fell asleep," Kara whispered, not turning her face from Kacey.

"Good to know, Kara, good to know," a familiar voice, but not Lee's, said.

She turned and saw Leoben in there, holding a needle. Before she could even try to fight him, he stuck it in her arm.

"Sleep now, Kara." That was the only thing she managed to hear, before everything turned black.

**A/N: Here's the twist. If you want to find out what happens really soon, I suggest you review. Tell me what you think. **


	15. The Plan

In the CIC, everything was chaotic. The Old Man kept giving orders through the radio, Tigh yelled at everyone and Gaeta was constantly checking the DRADIS monitor, when he noticed something weird.

"Sir," he called the admiral. "The Cylons seem to be turning back. All of them."

"All of them? Why?" Adama asked.

"No idea, sir," Gaeta answered.

The Admiral sighed. Was that a trap? The cylons seemed to be pretty interested in blowing them up just some minutes before.

"Tell the pilots to hold in there for five more minutes, Mr. Hoshi," he told the communications officer.

"Yes, sir."

--

Minutes later, in the Hangar Deck, the pilots were arriving.

"What the frak are the toasters planning?" Lee shouted when he exited his viper.

"No idea," Tyrol, who was helping him taking his helmet out, answered.

"Frakking things!" he grumbled. "I'm going to check on Kara and Kacey for now. I'll be back in a few minutes."

Apollo walked through Galactica's hallways until he reached his and Kara's quarters. He had a bad feeling when he found the hatch opened. "Kara?!" he yelled, entering the main room. "Kacey?!"

They were not answering, so he entered the bedroom, which also was empty.

_Where are they?_ he thought. _Maybe they went to the CIC._

However, when he turned and got the sight of the bathroom mirror, he was petrified.

"_They are mine, you stole them from me, __and I've got them back now. Kara will love me." _That was the message written in the mirror.

Lee immediately grabbed the phone and called the CIC.

"Hoshi, tell my father to come to my quarters. Kara and Kacey were abducted."

--

Lee and Kara's quarters were full of marines, trying to find evidence or something to hint them about the Captain's whereabouts.

"Lee," Bill Adama said when he arrived, followed by Helo and Athena.

"Dad, there is a message in the bathroom," he told him.

"Let's go see it," Bill said.

"We will find them," Helo told him. "We will."

"Starbuck is strong," Sharon stated.

They entered the bathroom.

"Wait," Athena said. "I know that Handwriting! It is Leoben's!"

"The one who kept her captive in New Caprica?" Bill asked.

"Yeah, it's him," she confirmed.

"Sir," a Marine called the Old Man, "the XO is on the phone for you."

The Admiral followed the Marine to the main room.

"But how in the Universe would Leoben get here?" Lee asked.

"No idea," she said. "He would have been recognized, don't you think?" She approached the message to study it closer.

Bill Adama re-entered the bathroom. "Bad news. One of the raptors did not come back; it jumped to a Cylon Basestar. Stubbs, the supposed pilot, was found knocked out in a closet."

"He took them away from the fleet," Lee murmured.

"We need to make a plan to get them back," Athena said.

--

Kara woke up slowly in a strange room. _Leoben_, she remembered. He had sedated her. She just hoped he didn't know about the baby. Gods knew what he could do.

"Mommy," Kacey said, running in her direction when she noticed she was awake.

Kara sat up, opened her arms and hugged her daughter tightly. "It's okay, Kace. Mommy won't let you get hurt," she said, making that same promise to herself.

Kacey's face revealed that she had been crying.

"Wanna go home," Kacey said, sobbing. "He said here's home. But no Daddy and Gwandpa."

"Who is 'he'?" Starbuck asked. "The man who used to say he was your daddy?"

The little girl nodded.

The door opened and Leoben came in.

"Kacey, why don't you go have a nap in the other bunk?" Kara suggested to Kacey, who, seeing her mother's worried face, did what she was told.

"I see your maternal instinct is working now," Leoben stated.

"You frakking son of a bitch! What do you want from us?" she asked him.

"I want my family back! I want my daughter back!" he replied.

Kara laughed. "We know that she's not yours! She's Lee's daughter. Me and Kacey already have a family in _Galactica_."

"You belong here with me, not in _Galactica_!"

"You're nuts! How the frak did you get in the ship now?"

He smiled maniacally. _He's definitely insane,_ Kara thought.

"I've been there since New Caprica," he said, "hiding in the _Rising Star_."

"That's impossible," she stated. "Someone would have recognized you when you boarded, or in there, unless…"

"Unless someone inside made sure I was well hidden. That's right, Kara, I have an accomplice, kind of like a mole, among you," he told her.

She was looking at him with shock all around her face. "Baltar?" she asked.

"Baltar? He didn't even return to the fleet with you," Leoben said. "I won't reveal my sources, Kara, so you can stop asking me that."

"The frak I'll stop asking!"

"You won't receive answers from me, my love."

"You're crazy! I won't ever love you. I love Lee, get used to it," she told him.

"I guess we'll have to wait and see," he stated, turning around and locking the hatch behind him.

She leaned in her own bunk and prayed. "Lords of Kobol, hear my prayer. Let us get out of here safe. Let Kacey be safe. They can't find about the baby."

--

Athena, Helo, and Apollo, were with the Admiral in his plans.

"Do you have any idea of where they took them?" the older Adama asked Sharon.

"Surely to one of the Basestars," she said.

"There are probably hundreds of them. It could be anywhere," Helo stated.

"We need a way to find exactly which one," Apollo declared.

The Old Man was sitting silent. How would they do that?

"I have a plan," Athena told them. "It is risky, but it is our best shot."

"What?" Lee asked.

"A cylon can have access from the Resurrection Ship to all the Basestars," she said.

"Sharon that 'infiltration by resurrecting' thing has already been played when you went to get Hera," Helo told her. "They'd never tell you where Starbuck is."

"I am not the only one who was that kind of access to the Resurrection Ship in the fleet," she said.

"Wait, are you suggesting that we send…Six?" Lee asked, surprised.

"Yes," she confirmed. "They think that she came to Galactica as my hostage. She's like a hero to them, they'd tell her anything. And I trust her. She helped me save Hera."

"That's very risky," the Admiral said. "We're practically giving her up as a prisoner. What if she betrays us?"

"She's been locked in a cell, it is not like she has much information to give about us," Helo stated.

"I know it is crazy, but it worked with me," Athena told them. "It is our best shot to get Starbuck and Kacey back."

Lee got up from his sit. "I'm in. I don't care if it is insane. I just want them back."

"We're trusting blindly in the cylon who caused the colonies to be destroyed," the Old Man said.

"I knew her before the attacks, sir. I can guarantee you that she's different," Sharon affirmed.

The Admiral sighed. That mission was insanely risky. But it was Starbuck, his surrogate daughter, the woman Lee loved… Not to mention Kacey, his sweet granddaughter.

"Do you think she will accept this?" he asked Sharon.

"She wants to prove our trust. I think she will do it," she assured him.

"This mission has my permission, then. Let's go talk to her."

**A/N: The planning is done. If you want next chapter really soon, you might want to review. Give me uyour opinion about this crazy plan.**


	16. Loyalties

Minutes later, the Admiral, Lee, Helo and Sharon were already in Six's cell. The president, who heard about the abduction, also joined after being explained about the plan.

"You are willing to trust me for this?" Six asked unsure, after hearing Athena's idea.

"You seem to be our only way to rescue Captain Thrace and her daughter," Roslin stated.

"So, will you do it?" Lee asked in an anxious voice.

"You don't need to come back if you don't want to," the Admiral told her to everyone's surprise. "Just…make sure they get here."

"S-six," Laura Roslin started.

"If you feel uncomfortable with calling me by my cylon name, you can use my alias in Caprica, Jane Natasi," the blond cylon told her. "You don't need to insist. I'll do it. Not because you promised to set me free, but as my own way to redeem myself for what I did."

"Do you need a cover story or will you be able to improvise?" Helo asked.

"I'll improvise," she said.

"Please, bring them back…," Lee told her.

"I promise that I will do my best." She turned to Athena. "Make it quick."

Six turned around, Sharon pointed the gun to the back of her neck and pulled the trigger. The cylon immediately fell to the floor, dead.

"Now, is up to her," the older Adama stated.

--

In the resurrection ship, a honey-colored hair Six welcomed the cylon formerly known as Jane Natasi back to life.

Caprica-six was coughing violently.

"Shh, take it easy," the other six instructed her.

"Natalie," she murmured, recognizing her.

"What happened? How did you die?"

"I was in Galactica's brig when the Admiral came in with several Marines. He asked me where we had taken Kara Thrace. She was abducted with her daughter. I kept telling them that I did not know," Six improvised, even faking tears. "So, one of the Marines hit me, but I hit him back and he shot me."

"It's alright, you're here with us," Natalie told her.

"Where is she really? I want to know the information I died for."

"Number two took her to the Basestar that is guarding this Resurrection Ship," she answered. "She's in one of the cells."

Caprica-six nodded.

"Come on, let's clean you up and take you to see the others. They are waiting for you in the Basestar. You saved Hera from Boomer's insanity."

Six sighed. Everything was going as planned so far.

--

Hours later, Kara was sitting in a corner of the room where Leoben was keeping her hostage. Kacey was cuddled against her and Kara could feel that she was tense.

Leoben opened the door with a trail of food.

"Why do you toasters want me and Kacey?" she asked, out of the blue.

"_We_ don't want you, _I_ do," he corrected her. "They were just kind enough to let me bring you here."

"Oh, I'm touched," she told him sarcastically.

Leoben saw that Kacey was hiding her face behind her mother's arm.

"You used to like me," he told the little girl.

"You hurt mommy," she said, in a low voice.

He approached them. "I just put her to sleep. I didn't hurt her."

"Stay away from her!" Kara shouted, putting Kacey behind her back.

Someone entered the deck and approached them. It was a six.

"I said I wanted to be alone," Leoben told her.

"I have a message for you," the six said. She turned to Kacey. "Cover your eyes, sweetie."

When Kacey did what she was told, Six took a gun out and shot Leoben twice, before he could react.

"What the frak?!" Kara shouted.

"Hey, it's me, remember? The one who told you who your daughter's father was," Six told her, opening the cell's door.

"But… how?"

"Your father-in-law sent me to save you," she told Kara. "Hurry, we have to go before he's downloaded and alerts everyone."

Kacey and Starbuck followed Six through the decks until they reached the landing bay, where the raptor Leoben had stolen was.

Kara helped Kacey getting in the raptor, while Six prepared things so they could leave. She put her daughter in the co-pilot's chair.

"Don't leave this sit, Kacey," she instructed the little girl. "Mommy will be right back."

"Everything's set," Six announced when Starbuck walked out of the raptor.

"You!" a Number Eight, who entered in the deck along with a guy that looked just like Simon, shouted when she saw the blond cylon. Simon pointed a gun at Kara, but Six was faster and blew his brains up before he could even move.

"Boomer," Six said. Before she could say anything else, Boomer shot her.

"That's for betraying us," Boomer stated. However, she didn't notice that Starbuck had sneaked behind her. She hit the cylon with a pipe, knocking her out.

She threw the pipe to the ground and went to check on Six. She was alive, but in a lot of pain.

"I can…finish this for you," Starbuck told the cylon. "It will end the pain. There's a resurrection ship nearby."

Six shook her head. "No," she said, her voice breaking with pain. "Take me…back…to Galactica. I don't…belong here."

Starbuck stared at the platinum blonde. Six was in agony, but refusing the chance to have a new painless body. Most people would have called the cylon insane, but the only word Starbuck could think to describe that action was loyalty. She seemed to have picked the human side.

Starbuck helped her inside the raptor and checked on Kacey, who was still snuggled in the co-pilot sit, looking scared.

"Let's go back home," she murmured and piloted the raptor out of the Basestar and of its sight. Putting the ship in auto-pilot, Kara went to check on the cylon. "I'm going to patch that up for now and give you some morpha. But before I drug you, I need the coordinates back to Galactica."

The cylon indicated the coordinates and Kara tried to take care of the wound. It seemed to have missed the important organs, but it still looked painful. She patched her and gave her the morpha in the raptor's emergency aid kit.

When she returned to the cockpit, Starbuck inserted the coordinates and jumped away.

--

In Galactica, Lee was in his and Kara's cabin, waiting nervously for news.

The phone rang and he immediately ran to it. "Adama."

"_Lee,"_ his father's voice said. _"We captured the signal of one of our raptors in DRADIS."_

"Is it them?"

"_We don't know, we're waiting for them to contact us," _the Old Man said.

"I'll be there in a second," Lee said, hanging up the phone and running as fast as he could to the CIC.

When he entered there, her heard her voice in the wireless.

"…_requesting permission for landing," _Starbuck's voice rang in the CIC.

"Permission granted," the Old Man said. "It is good to hear your voice, Starbuck."

"_Back at you, Sir,"_ she replied and turned the line off.

The Admiral turned to his son. "Come on, we have two very special ladies to welcome."

When Lee reached the Hangar Deck, the raptor's door was opening. He approached the ship.

"Daddy!" Kacey shouted when she exited the ship and ran to him.

Lee sighed in relief and received his daughter in his arms, holding her more tightly than ever. He kissed her soft blonde hair. "Daddy's not letting they take you ever again, honey. Never."

While father and daughter reunited, Helo and Sharon entered the raptor to find Starbuck helping a wounded Six.

"What happened?" Athena asked.

"Boomer shot her. I gave her morpha to ease the pain," Starbuck said.

"Go to your husband and daughter. We'll take care of her," Helo said, lifting the hurt cylon in his arms and taking her to the Sickbay, followed by Athena.

Starbuck slipped out of the raptor and saw Lee waiting for her with Kacey in his arms. He put the little girl on the floor and walked in her direction, kissing her passionately when he reached her.

She hugged him tightly when they broke the kiss.

"Did they hurt you?" he whispered in her ear.

"No," she answered.

"I'll have Cottle checking all of you, just to be sure," Lee told her.

In other circumstances, she would have refused, but she wanted to make sure that everything was good with her baby.

"Okay, but I think he needs to check on Six first," Kara said. "She saved my life, Lee. Simon was going to kill me but she didn't let him and got shot because of that."

"I guess not everyone is as bad as they seem," Lee stated and kissed her forehead.

They walked in the Admiral's direction, who was standing by Laura Roslin's side, holding Kacey's hand. He enveloped his daughter-in-law in a hug as soon as she reached him.

They were home again. The nightmare was over. At least for now.

**A/N: I am really sorry for the delay. I have a school assignment to deliver and yesterday, I spent all day working on it. Did you like the chapter? Six saved them. Review and give me your opinion. I'll update as soon as I can.**


	17. Talking

After their return, Lee had taken his wife and daughter to the sickbay, so they could be examined.

Kara was resting in one of the beds with her eyes closed. Lee was watching her, sitting on a chair right next to her bed. He doubted Kara had slept while she was being held captive by the cylons. _She was probably busy watching over Kacey_, he imagined.

His little girl was in another bed, wide awake, playing with her beloved teddy bear that her grandpa went to get from their quarters. She had already been cleared by Cottle and seemed to be pretty peaceful. She was too young to understand what happened; maybe she just saw the whole situation as a past nightmare.

Both the beds were surrounded by curtains, giving them some privacy.

Kara stirred in the bed and Lee reached for her hand. He wanted her to know that he was there when she woke up.

She opened her eyes and smiled at him. A genuine loving smile, that kind that she only showed him or Kacey. "Hey."

"Hi," he told her. "Had a good sleep?"

"Yeah," Kara replied. "How long was I out?"

"A few hours," Lee told her. "You seemed pretty tired, so Cottle let you sleep before he examines you."

"'Kay." She looked at their daughter sitting in the other bed, distracted with her favourite toy. "We should tell her about you-know-what. We didn't get the chance to do it when we planned."

"You're right," he agreed. He turned to the blond little girl. "We need to have a little chat with you, kid," he told her, receiving a giggle in return.

"Daddy funny," Kacey said in her melodic childish voice.

He turned to Kara and sighed. "She's just like you, never takes me seriously." He got up and helped Kacey out of the bed, putting her next to Kara, who moved to sit in a more comfortable position.

"So…" Starbuck started. "How would you feel about having a baby brother or sister, Kace?"

Kacey was confused. "Baby bwotha or sista?" she asked.

"Yes, Honey," Lee said. "Like Daddy and Uncle Zak. You remember when Mommy and I told you about Uncle Zak, don't you?"

Kacey nodded. "Daddy liked him vewy much," she said. "I'll have one too?"

"Yes, Kacey, you will," her father confirmed.

Kacey looked around the room, trying to find her new sibling.

"The baby's not here yet, sweetie," Kara said, laughing of her daughter's confusion. "He's still growing in my tummy."

Kacey kneeled in the bed and reached for her mother's stomach, which was still flat. "Hewe?" she asked.

"The baby is still very small, Kacey," Lee told her. "Mommy's tummy will grow when he or she gets bigger. You'll have to wait a few months 'till it gets here."

"How'd he get in Mommy's tummy?" Kacey asked innocently.

Kara and Lee shrugged. The grim question. They were shooting terrified looks at each other that clearly asked: _'What do we do?'_

"That is something only kids older than twelve are allowed to know," Cottle said when he arrived with the ultrasound machine. "Let's check on the other kid."

_Thank you, _Lee mouthed him.

"Your blood work was fine. They just injected you with a harmless sedative. Now, tanks up, Captain," he instructed Kara.

She obeyed and he put the gel in her stomach.

Lee was nervous. What if they had hurt the baby? He already loved that child too much to lose it.

He sighed in relief when he heard through the machine a sound that Cottle identified as a heartbeat. He looked at the monitor and saw the baby. It was so small. He reached for Kara's hand. She looked as relieved as he did.

"Look baby," Kara told Kacey, pointing at the monitor with her free hand. "There's your baby brother or sister."

Kacey made a face. "He's stwange."

"The machine can't get a better image, Kace," Lee told her. "You'll see he or she will look cute."

"After all, the kid is half-Thrace," Kara stated cockily.

"Is that a good thing?" Cottle asked dubiously, receiving a glare in return.

"So, do you like the idea of having a new baby among us?" Lee asked his daughter, who nodded excitedly.

"Guess who's… Holy frak!" Helo said when he walked through the curtain with Sharon, to pay his friends a visit, but was faced with Starbuck having an ultrasound that revealed the presence of a little person in her uterus. "You're pregnant?"

"No, Helo, I am not pregnant, this is just a product of your insane imagination," Kara said sarcastically. "Have you ever heard of the expression 'May I come in?'"

"You're pregnant," he repeated.

"Yes, Karl, she's pregnant," Sharon confirmed.

He turned to his wife. "You knew it?" he asked.

"She told me in confidence."

Cottle turned the machine off and gave Kara a towel so she could clean the remains of the gel. "The fetus looks healthy. Don't forget to come back in a month and don't do anything stupid."

"I never do stupid stuff," she stated, defensive. He raised an eyebrow but didn't say anything, leaving instead. She turned to Sharon. "I was thinking that maybe we could go see Six."

"I agree," Athena said, nodding. "We need to clear some things."

Lee picked Kacey from Kara's bed. "Okay, I am going to my dad's quarters. He wanted to spend some time with Kacey. He invited us for dinner."

"I'll meet you there later," she told him and kissed him tenderly.

Kacey hugged her mother. "Bye Mommy, bye baby."

Kara stood there, smiling like a mad woman seeing her husband and daughter leave, followed by Helo, who was acting as the CAG because the Old Man gave Lee the rest of the day off.

Seconds later, Starbuck returned to her usual self and turned to Sharon. "I hope you don't mind, but I hit your 'cousin' Boomer with a pipe," Kara joked.

"Did she die?" Athena asked.

"No."

"Good, that will give her a bitch of a headache," she stated. Since Boomer tried to kill Hera, Athena held a grudge against her.

They opened the curtain that surrounded Six's bed and saw her lying in there, quite pale but awake.

"How're you feeling?" Athena asked her.

"A little sore," she answered. "The painkillers help a lot."

There was a silent break.

"Why did you decide to come back?" Athena asked. "You know there is a pretty big chance they'll throw you back in that cell. I'm not saying that you should have stayed. I just want to understand why you did it."

Six looked away. "I don't believe in what we cylons fight for anymore. We just want destroy the human race. What sense does that make?" she asked. "I want to do the right thing from now on, even if it means being locked in the brig."

"You saved my life back there," Kara spoke for the first time. "Plus, you helped me and Kacey escape. These are points in your favor, Six."

"Call me Jane," Six stated. "It was my name back in Caprica," she explained, seeing Starbuck's confused look. "New allegiances, new name. Oh, by the way, they don't know about the baby."

"What?!" Kara asked in shock. "How do you know?"

"They analyzed some of your blood. That was predictable, so I went to the lab, erased the results and stole the blood samples. They must be somewhere in the raptor…"

"Thanks, I owe you that," Starbuck said sincerely. "I have to confess that you were the last cylon I expected to turn to our side."

"Me too," the blond cylon agreed.

"Listen, Leoben mentioned that there was a 'mole' inside Galactica, someone that helped him infiltrating the flee," Starbuck said. "Do you know anything about that?"

"A 'mole' in the fleet?" Six asked. "I never heard anything about that back in the Basestar. Did he say who that person worked for? For himself or for the cylons in general?"

Starbuck thought for a bit. "He did. He said the _he_ had an accomplice in the fleet since New Caprica."

"You think he's working alone?" Athena asked the blond cylon.

"He must have been for the last months. I never heard of that accomplice while I was in there," she answered. "But on the other hand, he'll probably inform the others now that he's back. You need to find that person."

"I will inform the Old Man," Starbuck said. "Can we count on you for helping us find the bastard…Jane?"

"Yes," she answered.

**A/N: I am kind of sad because I only got 5 reviews last chapter. Please, people, review. Your opinion is important. By the way, who do you think it is 'the mole'? Give me suggestions. I've already decided, but if you give a better suggestion, I may change my mind. **


	18. Family

The whole Adama clan along with Laura Roslin was in the Admiral's quarters. Earlier, Starbuck had told the admiral everything that happened during her abduction and about the 'mole' in the fleet. They decided to discuss it after dinner, because now, it was time to celebrate the unharmed return of the family's girls.

Lee and Kara had also decided that it was time to break the baby's news to the proud grandpa.

"We have an announcement to make," Lee declared.

His father and the President looked at him expectantly.

"We're having a baby," he fin ally informed them.

A huge smile appeared in Bill Adama's face. He was becoming a grandfather again. He got up and hugged his son.

"Congratulations, Lee," he said. Adama turned to Kara. "I can't state how glad I am, Kara."

"Thank you, sir," she said.

"Kara, we're not in service. Call me Bill or Dad," the Admiral instructed her.

"Okay…Dad," Starbuck agreed.

Bill turned to Kacey, who was poking her food in the plate. "You happy about becoming a big sister?"

The little girl nodded excitedly. "Baby in Mommy's tummy."

He ruffled his granddaughter's hair. "Yes it is."

After they finished the meal, it was time to decide what to do about 'the mole'. Sharon and Helo were called and joined them to discuss the matter, bringing little Hera as well, who was currently playing with Kacey.

"Apart from us who exactly knows of the traitor's existence?" asked the Old Man.

Starbuck thought for a moment. "Six…I mean, Jane."

"Six knows?" inquired Roslin.

"She lived a few months among the rest of the cylons, so we assumed she might know some information," Sharon explained.

The stood silent for while.

"I think we should not spread the word. It would only cause everybody to panic. In my opinion, we ought to investigate it quietly, like a secret committee," Bill Adama suggested.

"I agree," Laura declared. "If the traitor doesn't know that we are aware of its existence, we are one step ahead. If you don't mind, I'd like to take part in that."

"That's a good idea," Lee stated. "As the president, you can open a lot of doors and acquire a larger role of information."

"Kara, you should be in it as well," the Admiral told her. "You're pregnant, which means your flying status is conditioned. Plus, you were the one who discovered all of this."

"As long as you let me fly from time to time, I'm in," Starbuck told him. "But I think Jane should take part in this as well. She said she was willing to help."

"Are you sure Jane Natasi is trustable?" the President asked.

"She risked herself to save me and Kacey, Laura. Nothing could assure her that there was a Resurrection Ship around to download her after she agreed in that insane plan," Starbuck stated.

"You can see in her eyes that she regrets what she did to the colonies," Athena helped. "Jane can help. I could help as well, when I'm not in duty."

"So that's set," Bill said. "You three and Miss Natasi will be in charge of this investigation. Try to be discreet."

"It would be a good idea to have the Colonial One docked to Galactica for now," Helo suggested. "It would make your dislocations to the Galactica less suspicious, Madam President."

"But people would wonder why, Captain," Laura stated.

"Not exactly," Lee said. "I remember that Colonial One's FTL gave some problems a while ago. We could declare that it needed to be checked, so as a matter of security, you'd have to be attached to another ship in case an emergency jump was needed."

"Yeah, that is not a bad idea," Sharon stated. "I'm sure the chief could hold it for a while if you asked him, Admiral."

"Alright, so we have the planed traced," Adama declared.

--

Lee and Kara returned to their quarters along with a sleepy Kacey.

"This one is ready to bed," Kara declared, seeing that her daughter could barely keep her eyes open.

"Let her sleep with us today," Lee suggested.

"Lee…" she started.

"Come on. I almost lost the two of you," he insisted.

She looked at her husband and then at Kacey. "Fine, you win."

They dressed the little girl in her pajamas and laid her in their bunk. After being in their sleeping clothes as well, the joined Kacey in there, making sure she was in the middle of them.

"Do you think that we would be like this if the cylons had not attacked?" Lee murmured to his wife, who was looking at their daughter and caressing her little face.

She took her eyes of Kacey and turned to him. "No."

"Why?" he asked her.

She smiled. "Because you would have gone back to Gianne, Lee. You would have not let your child grow up without a father there."

"Kara…" he started.

"I'm not saying that I am glad this happened, I'm just stating that things would have gone differently. Some would be better, others worse," she explained. "That is why we, common mortals, do not have the power to change the past. I prefer not to think about that. Now, I can't imagine a world without us together, without Kacey in there, without this baby we made…"

"Neither can I," he murmured. His daughter moved and snuggled closer to him.

"What happened after the attacks made us grow inside," Kara declared. "Look at me for example. I was afraid of Kacey when Leoben first brought her to me and said she was mine. Not because according to him she was half-cylon. I feared because I thought I'd hurt her, like my mother hurt me."

Lee knew that Kara had been beaten frequently when she was a child. She never told him that herself, but once he got hold of her medical file.

"She used to say I was worth nothing, that I'd never be able to do anything right. And I believed her. When Leoben gave me Kacey, I tried to stay away, because I thought I'd screw up. But then, she fell of the stairs. That was when I realized that unlike my mother, I cared. Kacey changed me… a lot. She showed me that I was not as screwed up as Socrata Thrace once made me believe."

"Your mother was the screwed up one," Lee told her.

"Yes, she was," Kara agreed. _Take that, Mamma, I'm better than you ever were._ She looked at her hand. Her mother had broken all fingers of that hand once. "I know that I won't _ever_ lay a hand in my children."

"Of course you won't," Lee said, holding the hand she had been looking at and kissing it. "Why did she do it?"

"What?"Kara asked, confused.

"Why did she break your fingers? I saw your medical file once, Kara."

The scene was repeated in her mind. "We fought and she hit me, so, to get revenge on her, I placed rubber ants in her closet. She was terrified of insects, so she had a panic attack. To punish me she placed my hand in a door jamb and slammed the door on it," Kara told him. There was no need no hide it. If he had seen the file, he knew everything. "You shouldn't have seen the file," she murmured, taking her hand of his.

"I didn't mean to," he said. "It happened when you hurt your knee in that red moon. It was opened right in front of me. I was too curious. Don't be upset. I saw those X-rays. It was a long time ago."

She looked at him. "I'll forgive you because it was a long time ago. But stop being too curious."

"I promise next time I'll just ask," he said. "But let's face it. Even if there were no attacks, you'd realize that she was wrong… eventually."

"You don't know that," she stated. "Let's leave this conversation, Lee. I don't like to talk about this."

He leaned closer to her and crushed his lip in hers and they kissed with Kacey in the middle of them.

"Kara," he murmured after their lips separated. "About the investigation, be careful. Remember that it is not only your life that you need to protect."

"I will be careful, Lee. For me and for the baby," she assured him. "But I swear I'll catch the son of a bitch who helped Leoben abducting me and my little girl. And after I do it, that person will wish for death. No one messes with Starbuck's family and gets out of it without consequences."

"And I'll be there to help you beat the bastard's ass," Lee promised.

Kacey moved again and took hold of a strand of Kara's hair. She barely cut it since New Caprica, so it was pretty long.

"Possessive kid, isn't she? I wonder if she will wrestle the baby to get hold of me," Kara whispered to Lee.

"Let's hope she doesn't," Lee said.

Starbuck moved closer to him and their daughter. "'Night."

He kissed her forehead. "Sleep well."

Before Lee fell asleep, he realized something. They had gone through a lot, both of them, but they managed to become a family. That was all that mattered.

**A/N: I hope you liked the chapter. Keep giving me suggestions of who might be the mole. The 'hunt' will start soon. Review!**


	19. The Hunt Begins

One week later, Caprica-Six, now known as Jane Natasi, was sitting in her bed in the sickbay. Cottle had just cleared her to leave, so she was waiting for the marines to arrive and throw her back to her cell. The curtains around her bed opened but instead of half a dozen Marines, it was the Admiral who approached her.

"Miss Natasi," he greeted her cordially.

"Admiral Adama," she replied. "May I ask where the Marines that will walk me to the brig are? And the handcuffs?"

Adama shook his head. "You're going to your private quarters, not the brig. And I trust you will behave without cuffs. You're not a prisoner anymore"

Jane raised her eyebrows. "Excuse me?"

"Why don't you sit down and let me explain?" he suggested.

She did as he requested and he filled her in the plans.

"So, I am allowed to join that committee and to stay out of the brig," she concluded.

Bill Adama sighed. "If you prefer being in there, I can arrange that. But you saved Starbuck's life and got hurt because of that. You deserve this chance. However, you will always have a Marine or someone else armed in your tail. This is all very…new. People need to get used to see you around, but having you strolling around the ship without any security is too much for them, not mention that it could be dangerous for you. Now, the question is: Are you willing to accept this? If you do, have a long way to gain everyone's trust. Like Athena did."

She was over-whelmed. Giving a second chance, trying to accept, was not something the Cylon's program was not used to. It would be like flying a ship in manual pilot, except the ship was nothing more than her reaction.

"If you asked me, finding the 'mole' would be a good way to fall in everyone's good graces," the Admiral told her.

"I want to make up for what I did," she said. "Nothing I'll ever do will be enough. But this is a nice place to start."

Adama nodded.

"Corporal Venner," he called.

The dark skinned Marine approached them.

"Please take Miss Natasi to her quarters. They are waiting for her in there," the Old Man instructed.

"Yes, Sir," Venner said.

She was a bit nervous. Walking around Galactica receiving looks from everyone, some confused, others angered and even others indifferent. When they arrived to the cabin, Laura Roslin was waiting for them.

"Thank you for the help, Corporal," she told Venner. "And for not asking questions. The less people who knows about this, the better."

"You know that I believe in you, Madam President," the Marine told her. "Or I wouldn't have let you escape when you were on the brig. You can count on my help."

Roslin nodded. "Come on in," she told the blond cylon. "If you don't mind, Miss Natasi, we'll use your cabin as the headquarters for the committee. It is close the entrance to Colonial One. It woundn't call much attention."

"Sure," she agreed

Inside, Kara Adama was unpacking several disks.

"These are the Rising Star's video vigilance records," Laura explained.

Jane approached the place where they were putting the disks.

"How many cameras does the Rising Star have?" she asked.

"Around 200, I think," Kara answered. "We have the records from the last six months."

"200 cameras and records from the last six months," Jane repeated. "Follow my thought. Six months is around…180 days. Times 200 cameras. Assuming we'd see these records 24/7 and having it running 4 times faster than normal, no breaks at all, well, we'll be really busy watching them for the next 25 years."

"Frak me!" Kara shouted.

"I imagined it would not be possible to watch every single one of the videos," Lara said.

"Also, our traitor could be anyone, so we do not have any idea of who it is," helped Starbuck.

Jane sat in the bunk.

"We also have the Rising Star's deck plans," Sharon said when she came in, carrying several rolls of paper.

"In my opinion, the first thing we need to find who the mole is is to figure out where the frak Leoben was," Starbuck declared.

"I got a list of unused spaces in there," the President said.

"Good," Jane replied. "We need to start eliminating possibilities."

"Let the hunt begin," Kara murmured.

--

Later that day, Kara returned to her quarters to find Lee giving Kacey a bath. She had a sleepover with Hera that night. Since Hera was rescued from the cylons, the two girls had become best-friends and were basically attached to the hip.

"Hi Mommy!" Kacey greeted her excitedly when she saw her through the bathroom door while her father washed her hair.

"Hi, Baby," Kara replied when she fully entered the bathroom. Her daughter seemed to be entertaining herself with a rubber duck. She kneeled next to Lee and kissed him softly.

"Hey, how was the investigation?" Lee asked her.

"Tiring," she answered. "We're trying to imagine Leoben's steps and eliminating the places where it is unlike he would have been."

"How many do you have now?" he asked her.

"A few dozens. We'll see what to do tomorrow," Kara told him. They washed the soap of Kacey's hair and dried her with a towel, taking her to the bedroom in order to dress her.

"I missed you in the Hangar Deck," Lee informed her. "I even missed you making fun of me in the Ready Room."

"Oh, poor thing," she joked. "Don't worry; I'll try to make up for that tonight."

Minutes later, Kacey was fully dressed and her parents took her to Helo and Sharon's quarters.

They kneeled in front of her.

"Be good for your uncle Helo and your aunt Sharon, okay?" Lee asked, receiving a nod in return.

"But not too good," Kara told her. "Make sure you give Helo a few work."

"Kara!" Lee said.

"Oh, come on, she needs to live up for the Starbuck's hell raiser legacy," she joked.

"Mommy funny," the little girl laughed.

"Oh, I know, Kace, I know," Kara said. "Daddy tells me that all the time."

They knocked in the hatch and Sharon opened the door.

"Hey," she greeted them. "Hera is all excited to have Miss Kacey here."

Kacey laughed. "Hi auntie Shawon!"

"Hi, Kacey, Hera's waiting for you inside," she stated.

The little girl turned to both her parents. "Bye Mommy, bye Daddy." With that, she ran inside.

"Where's Helo?" Lee asked.

"He had to drop in Dogsville. He must be arriving in a few minutes," informed them. She smiled mischievously. "You can cut the small talk and go celebrate your kid-free night. She's in good hands. Go and frak in peace."

"I assure you we will," Starbuck said, smirking, and Apollo laughed nervously.

"Horny bastards," Athena called them.

--

Back in their cabin, Kara turned to her husband. "I feel like having a shower. Care to join me?"

"Of course I'll join you. Water is too precious in the fleet to be wasted," he stated.

"I'll give you the water," Kara said through her teeth.

She removed her tanks and stood in front of him in her bra and pants. He smiled.

"Wait, come here," he told her.

She raised an eyebrow. "What for?"

"I just need to check something," he said. When she approached him, he put his hand in her stomach and ran his hand through it.

"What?" she asked, trying to figure what he was doing.

"I can feel the bump. It is barely noticeable, but I can feel it in there," he told her, grinning like a madman.

"Really?" she asked, running her hands through her stomach as well.

"You're almost three months along, Kara," he said. "It is going to show a lot more."

She sighed. "I am not going to fit in my own clothes. Worse, I'm not going to fit in my uniform. The nuggets will never respect me in a mommy outfit."

Lee thought for a moment. "You can always use my 'fat' uniform. It must be somewhere in the middle of my things."

Kara laughed. "Oh, the Lardo Apollo uniform?"

"Yep, that one," he confirmed. He leaned to kiss her almost invisible bump.

"The kid is not even born and you're already wrapped around its little finger," Kara stated.

He got up and kissed her passionately. "I love you Mrs. CAG."

"Oh, I love you too, Mr. CAG. But don't let it get in your head," she told him.

He lifted her in his arms. "The shower is waiting."

"We're still half-dressed," she told him.

"Too bad," Apollo stated, his blue eyes shining with lust.

_I hope the baby has these__ eyes,_ Kara thought.

**A/N: I am very sorry for the delay, but someone in my family got really sick and I simply had no time to update. Anyway, I hope you liked it and please review! I only had 5 reviews last chapter, which kind of disapointed me. Next chapter, you'll kind of a contact with the 'mole'. It will give you a hint of who it is. Keep sending your theories. If anyone finds out, I'll definitly congratulate you. Please Review!**


	20. Traitor

**New Caprica,**** Exodus Day**

Leoben was sneaking through the streets of New Caprica City. None of the humans could see him there, or they'd kill him. He had no time to resurrect. He could not be killed this time, not before he reached his goal.

His fellow cylons had agreed with him when he announced that he would be infiltrating in the fleet.

"Be careful," Three had told him. "They know how you look like now."

"I have a plan," he assured them. He wanted a chance to bring Kara back to him. But things had to cool down. One of the basestars would attack six months from then, as a distraction. That way, abducting Kara Thrace and little Kacey, his family, would be a lot easier.

Everyone was running through the tent city. Sprinting less than a mile without being seen was turning out to be more difficult than he imagined. But he had reached his goal now. A few feet away from him, he was able to see his faithful accomplice in the fleet. Leoben walked discreetly to the tent right behind the accomplice.

"I need your help," Leoben murmured through a tent's fabric so only his 'mole' could hear.

"What do you need?"

"I need to infiltrate the fleet. I need you to make sure that I am safe for the next months and help me with my mission in there," the cylon murmured.

"I can sneak you in one of the ships. You won't be recognized in there. When we reach the fleet, we'll see what we do from there," the 'mole' told him.

Leoben nodded. "You really are a blessing from god. Faithful to your real family."

"I accept the reality like it is."

"Yes, you do, Number Seven. You really do. God let me be the first to meet one of the Final Five. He had a mission for you. You fought it in the beginning, but you ended up accepting it, accepting who you are. You were blessed. The humans trust you, they don't know who you're faithful to."

"Destiny wanted things to be this way," Number Seven said. "We need to hurry, or we'll be left behind."

--

**Present time:**

Kara was alone in her quarters, looking at her copy of Rising Star's deck plans. The possible places where Leoben had been hiding were marked in green and there were about twenty different green spots. However, nothing guaranteed them that Leoben had been hiding in any of these places.

To eliminate chances, they had used a huge amount of criteria based in the way Leoben's mind worked. Finding exactly where Leoben had been hiding would be a huge leap to find the traitor.

Starbuck looked at the clock. It was almost time to the Committee's meeting, so she decided to go to Natasi's quarters, where it would take place.

When she arrived there, Corporal Venner was guarding the door. The Admiral's orders clearly stated that from the time being, Jane Natasi's cabin should always be guarded by a marine, both for her own safety and to keep everyone else calm. He also had made sure that Venner was always the one in charge during the meetings, as he was completely faithful to Laura Roslin. The Old Man believed that that situation would not last for a long time because eventually everybody would get used to Jane's presence, like what happened to Athena.

"Morning, Corporal," Kara greeted him.

"Good Morning, Captain Thrace…I mean, Adama," he replied as he knocked on the hatch before opening, so Jane would know someone was coming in.

Kara slipped in the cabin but Jane was not in the main room. "Natasi? Jane?" Starbuck called.

The bathroom door opened and the cylon exited it. Starbuck's eyes shot open when she noticed her hair was not platinum blond anymore. It was dark blond, almost brown.

"Sorry, I didn't hear you come in," she apologized.

"Your hair…" Kara murmured.

"Oh, I painted it. Sharon suggested I did it. I guess the old color was a bit…intimidating," Jane explained.

"Well, you won't call as much attention, that's for sure," Starbuck said.

"Right," she murmured. "President Roslin sent a memo earlier, informing that the Admiral will come here as well. She said he had an idea to help us checking all these possible places where Leoben was hiding."

"Thank gods," said Kara.

Minutes later, they were joined by Sharon and later by Laura Roslin and Bill Adama. They were all occupying the sits by the round table in the middle of the room.

"So, we heard you had an idea to help us, sir," Sharon stated.

Bill nodded. "The Pegasus had a few devices that worked as finger print scanners. If you inserted in its memory a certain finger print and used it to scan an entire room, it would start beeping in case that print was found."

"Did someone manage to save any of these devices?" asked Jane.

"Yes, their Deck Chief rescued a couple of them," Adama said. "I had Gaeta inserting some finger prints, Leoben's, in their memory."

"Oh, thank gods!" Kara shouted. "I starting to think that we'd have to see all the videos of the cameras that surrounded the rooms."

"I have the devices in my quarter's vault," Adama informed them. He turned to Athena. "I suggest that you and your husband go in there to process the rooms. I arranged a room for you to stay tonight, so that everyone assumes you are just enjoying two days off duty."

"But what about Hera?" Sharon asked.

Starbuck huffed. "I'll watch her. Kacey will probably start jumping with joy because of that."

"Make sure you tire them, or they won't sleep as much as you beg," Athena warned her. "So we're set. Helo and I will take care of the rooms."

"Let's pray they were not cleaned in the meantime," Starbuck said.

"Or that we did not eliminate the right one," Laura stated.

--

Hours later, Lee and Kara were sitting in their quarters couch looking in disbelief to Hera and Kacey, who were running around the room, chasing each other.

"It is one hour past their bedtime. We need to put them in bed, Kara," Lee said.

"Well, good luck with that, 'cause they don't seem to be even slightly sleepy," she told him.

He got up and approached the two little girls.

"Time for bed, nuggets," he announced.

"No, Daddy," Kacey said with her arms crossed. It looked like she was channeling her mother.

"We not sleepy," Hera stated and her friend nodded. In fact, they looked a bit tired, but they were so entertained with each other, that they did not care.

"But you will be," he said. "You can play in the morning."

"Pwease, Daddy," Kacey begged, giving him an innocent look that seemed just like the one Kara used when she asked him for something.

He sighed. "Okay, you can play a little bit more."

When he went back to the couch he found Kara with a smug grin in her face.

"I told you so, I told you so," she mockingly sang.

"How old are you? Five?" Lee asked her.

"Kacey's got you wrapped around her finger, Major Adama," she told him.

"Well, she used the 'Starbuck's begging look'," he informed her. "You know that I can't ever say no to that look."

She smiled. "Do think things will be like this? With Kacey and the baby?"

"Bearing in mind that they are your kids, I have no doubt they will give us a few sleepless nights," he told her. "But we'll love every minute of it."

"Sure we will, especially because you will be the one in charge of the baby at night," Starbuck declared, while looking at the two little girls playing.

"Me? Why?" Apollo asked surprised.

"First, because I will be the one with the back aches and swollen ankles; second, because I will be the one in labor; third, because I say so."

He thought for a minute. "Well, we need your boobs to feed the kid, so you have to be in charge as well."

"Sure, I will. But unlike you, me and my girls will be in the comfortable warmness of our bunk, because you will be the one to bring the kid to me," Kara told him, smiling mischievously.

"We need to negotiate these arrangements," Lee declared.

"You can't say 'no' to me, Lee," she stated. "Step into my web."

He groaned. "What can I do to make you change your mind?"

"Hum… you could try to convince me the way you did when you wanted me to marry you," she said. "Maybe if you do it, I will consider helping you punctually."

He joined his lips with hers and they started making out in the couch.

"Lee, wait," Kara said, parting their lips. "The kids."

He groaned in annoyance. "Where are them? It's been a while since I last heard them."

He looked around the room and spotted them snoring softly in Kacey's bunk.

"Looks like they exhausted their batteries," Kara stated. "Finally."

They got up and approached the bunk, tucking the girls under the covers.

"Looks like I can start the convincing right now," Lee told his wife, who seductively walked to their room.

--

In the following day, Lee, Kara, Jane, the President and the Admiral were waiting for Helo and Athena to arrive with the results from their search.

The Hatch open and the Agathon couple entered. Sharon had a file in her hands and both had a strange look in their faces.

"So, did you find the room?" Kara asked.

"Better than that," Helo replied. "We discovered the 'mole'."

Everyone else in the room gasped in surprise.

"But how did you do it?" Roslin inquired them.

"We identified the room where Leoben was hidden. When we processed it, we found another set of prints. According to the records nobody had been in that room since the exodus, so we had analyzed," Athena explained. She gave the file in her hands to Laura. "These are the results. We confirmed it with the surveillance videos. They had copies of the ones they gave us."

Everyone in the room surrounded Laura as she opened the file. Looking at the picture in there, they caught their breaths.

"Lords of Kobol." That was all she managed to say.

**A/N: Once again, I am sorry for the delay, but things are getting complicated right now. You'll find out the mole's identitity next chapter. You're still in time to send me your theories about the traitor. Send me your opinions and comentaries. Review!**


	21. Unmasked

The 'mole' was walking to Galactica's conference room after being called by the president. The president had not specified that meeting's purpose.

After opening the hatch, Number Seven noticed that the meeting would not be just with the president. The admiral, Starbuck, Apollo, Six, Athena and Helo were there as well. Corporal Venner was also in the room with a rifle in his hands

"Sit," Laura Roslin ordered in a stern voice, indicating a chair in front of the main table. The scene was quite intimidating, so the 'mole' obeyed right away.

"Is there something you need, Madam President?"

Roslin grabbed the remote control in front of her and pointed it at a television screen that immediately turned on, showing a video of someone helping Leoben sneaking into a supposedly empty room in the Rising Star.

"You could start by explaining us why you helped the cylon known as Leoben Conoy infiltrating the fleet," Bill Adama said and gave a signal to Venner, indicating that he should point the rifle at the traitor.

There were several moments of silence.

"Answer us, Tory!" Laura Roslin demanded. "Why did you betray your own race for the cylons? I thought of you as a friend!"

Tory's face shifted to a maniac smile. "I did not betray my race."

"You infiltrated a cylon in the fleet knowing that it would put the whole human race in risk," Lee stated. "In my book, that is considered betrayal."

"Yes, I betrayed the human race. The thing is I am not human," Tory announced.

Jane and Sharon's eyes immediately shot open.

"What are you trying to say?" Athena asked.

"I, Victoria Anne Foster, the President's aide, am one of the five final cylons. And I don't give a damn if you know."

The admiral turned to the other two cylons in the room. "I assume you did not know that she was a cylon."

"We were not allowed to talk about the Final Five," Sharon informed him. "They are like a taboo among the cylons. Their identities remain in secret."

Jane was staring pointedly at Tory. "When and how did you find out?"

"Back in New Caprica. During the invasion, a Centurion was going to kill me, but he started acting weird, scanned my cornea and lowered his weapon. Leoben witnessed it and after analyzing the centurion's memory, he discovered who I was," she explained. Tory seemed to be enjoying that situation. She had fooled them and seeing their shocked faces was a source of pleasure to her.

"I just don't get why, after spending years with humans and living as a human, you accept your cylon origins so easily," Helo declared.

"That's easy. We, cylons, are the winners. It is only a matter of time before we destroy you all. Taking their side is only a matter of survival. God favored them, and by extension, me," Tory told them. "Leoben accepted me and gave my life a purpose."

"Leoben is a frakking maniac!" Starbuck told her.

"They won't accept you, anyway," Jane told her. "The rest of the cylons don't want to deal with the final five."

"I am more cylon that you will ever be!" Tory shouted. "The great Caprica-Six, the hero is now a disgrace who lowered herself to the human condition!" She turned to Sharon. "And so are you. None of you are worth of being a cylon!"

"Oh, I just bet their lives are falling apart," Kara stated, sarcastically.

"Take her to brig!" Adama said.

Right when Venner approached her, Tory punched him, throwing him against a wall with an unnatural strength. Helo smacked the alarm button in the wall. Before Tory could even try to attack anyone else, Sharon and Jane grabbed her arms, immobilizing her and Starbuck punches her in the face, knocking her out.

"That's for helping Leoben abducting me and Kacey, you freaky little bitch!" Kara said. She turned to Lee, who was pointing a gun at Tory. "I told you I'd kick her skinny ass."

--

Colonial One was full of journalists. President Roslin had a called a press conference in order to reveal everything they knew about the mole.

The Quorum of the Twelve had already been informed about that matter and despite not being pleased with not being informed earlier, they understood the reasons for that to happen.

Laura Roslin and the Admiral were in her office, waiting for the other members of the committee to arrive along with Lee. The president was walking around the room, trying to improvise a speech.

"This is so frustrating. I need to find a new aide, I can't do this job by myself," Roslin complained. "Or build a speech, for the matter."

"Just improvise; I'm sure you'll do well. Can I make a suggestion?" Bill asked.

She turned to him expectantly. "Please, tell me that you have an advisor for me."

"I was going to suggest Lieutenant Gaeta," he stated.

"Felix? Don't you need him in the CIC?" she asked.

"Well, he's good in what he does, that's a fact. But Hoshi is also skilled for that job. Everyone knows that politics are his strength, what he really likes," Bill explained. "Plus, he has experience as a presidential advisor."

"And you trust him," Laura finished.

"And I trust him," he confirmed. "He's good handling a gun. I'm sure he'd also work well as a bodyguard."

"I don't need a bodyguard, but you can tell him to come over tomorrow."

--

The President was standing in front of dozens of journalists. She had just informed them of the mole's existence and currently they were almost punching each other in order to get her attention and have their questions answered.

"Mr. McManus, you can start," she told James McManus, one of her biggest criticizers.

"When do you plan on starting an investigation to find this traitor's identity? Aren't you risking the whole investigation by announcing to the fleet that there is a 'mole'? And why is there a cylon model Number Six unleashed in this room?" He did the last question looking at Jane disgusted and fearful at the same time.

"One question at a time," she replied. "Do you think that I am that incompetent? The investigation is already done. We organized an investigation committee whose members were myself, Captain Kara Thrace, Lieutenant Sharon Agathon and 'the cylon model Number Six', who, by the way, should be addressed as Miss Jane Natasi. Yes, Mr. Hamilton, you can ask your questions now," Laura told a dark skinned journalist.

"Is there any special reason to justify the presence of two cylons in that committee?" he asked. "And what were the results of the investigation?"

"Without the help of Miss Natasi and Lieutenant Agathon, the investigation would have taken a lot more time to be concluded. The details of the investigation will be given later, but I dare to say that without these _women_'s help, the investigation would have not been successful in identifying the traitor before a tragedy happened."

"Can you tell us the identity of the traitor?" Playa Palacios asked.

Roslin sighed. "I am sorry to inform you that the 'mole' was someone whom I trusted deeply, my aide, Victoria Anne Foster."

"The former leader of the Federalist Party?" Playa asked surprised.

"Yes," the President confirmed. "She helped the cylon known as Leoben Conoy entering the fleet and kidnapping Captain Kara Thrace and her daughter months later. It was during the time when they were held captive that Conoy revealed the existence of a mole. Captain Thrace informed us of that fact after she and her daughter were rescued from a Cylon Baseship by Miss Natasi, who, may I add, was shot saving their lives and, despite all the pain that it caused her, insisted on coming back to Galactica instead of being downloaded to a new painless body."

"Why did you come back?" Hamilton asked Jane directly.

"For several reasons. I do not sympathize with the cylon cause anymore. It didn't matter if I stayed in the brig, I wanted to do the right thing," she explained.

"Miss Natasi was given a special ally status," Roslin announced. "She risked herself to help one of us, not to mention that she helped saving the fleet by helping us identify the 'mole."

"Did Foster give any explanation about why she helped the Cylons?" asked James McManus.

"Yes," Roslin said. "We are still trying to find a way to confirm her statements, but she affirms that she is a cylon. One of the 'Final Five'."

"Can't Number-Six or Agathon confirm it?" a red-headed journalist asked.

"Madam President, can I answer this?" Jane murmured to Roslin, who signaled her to approach her and go ahead. "The five final cylon models are something that we, cylons, are not allowed to discuss. Their identities remain in secret, even for us. But personally, I am inclined to believe that Tory Foster is actually a cylon, due to a display of strength that she made earlier."

"What will happen to Miss Foster now?" Playa asked.

"She will be kept in Galactica's cylon cell for the time being," Roslin said, after Jane returned to her original spot. "Her further destiny will be decided later by me and the Quorum. Thank you all for coming in such short notice."

**A/N: As this chapter was a bit heavy, I decided to leave Kacey out of it. Don't worry, no that the 'mole' is gone, I'll be investing a bit more in fluff. Give me your opinion about Tory being the mole. Congratulations, Shaba244 and Time16, the only ones who suggested Tory'a name.**


	22. Tournament

Four and a half months had passed since Tory was arrested and things were going normally in the fleet. Apart from a few cylon attacks, things were calm…relatively.

"Twister, if you don't land that frakking viper in one piece, I will go there and hit you with its remains!" Kara threatened one of her nuggets through the wireless after half a dozen failed landings. She was sitting in the port-hangar bay along with Captain Kelly monitoring the nugget's landings.

"Looks like Twister is having a little problem with the landing process," Aaron Kelly stated.

"He's one hell of a pilot out there, but he can barely put a viper back on the ground," she told him. "Call Sam and ask him to tutor Twister with the landings. This is his last shot. Frak, I'd do it myself, but I barely fit in a viper these days."

She and Lee never announced her pregnancy to the other pilots; however, the revoke of her flight status, her ever growing stomach and her severe mood swings gave her away.

It took almost more half an hour, but the nugget ended up landing safely by himself.

When she was walking through to the landing bay, she crossed paths with Sam and his fiancée, Diana Seelix.

"Give Twister hell for me, Sammy," she instructed her ex-husband.

"My pleasure," Sam agreed. He looked at her with an eyebrow raised. "I've been meaning to ask you this for a while. How the frak did you manage to fit in a uniform when you are seven months pregnant?"

"Oh, thank you, Sam," she said sarcastically, shooting him a deathly glare. "It is so nice to know that you think of me as a fat cow. Just so you know, this was Lee's uniform when he was…out of shape."

"So, when will you be able to fly again, Starbuck?" Seelix asked her. "Kat is getting way too cocky. She needs someone who can beat her ass out there in the active."

"Cottle said that if things go normally, I'd have to wait a couple of months after the kid is born. Can you guys handle her four more months?" Starbuck joked.

"Can you throw her in the brig if we can't?" Sam asked back.

"I'm sure that won't be difficult," Kara murmured. "I've got to go to the CIC. See you later."

--

The CIC was quiet. No cylon attacks for around eleven days allowed everyone to relax, but too much, or the Admiral would have their asses.

"Maybe it is time they start fixing the plumbing in the east wing of the ship," Tigh suggested. "The water pressure is too low."

"Well, I guess we do not have anything more important to do," Adama stated. He turned to the communications officer. "Petty Officer Natasi, call the chief and ask him to find us a decent plumber."

"Right away, sir," Jane replied. She had been surprised when the admiral invited her to work in the CIC less than two weeks before. He had told her that her…unique connection to machines could be helpful eventually. People were already getting used to her presence.

Starbuck entered the CIC and joined the Admiral in the middle of the room.

"You asked for my presence, sir?"

"Yes, Kara. I needed to discuss something with you," he told her.

"Okay," she agreed. "What is it?"

"From next week on, you are in Maternity leave," he announced.

Starbuck's face shifted to an angry expression. From the other side of the room, Jane was able to foresee an explosion coming.

"What?!" Kara asked outraged. "No frakking way! What am I supposed to do all day?"

"He's not asking, Captain," Tigh murmured.

"Doctor Cottle instructed me to keep you away from work when you reached your seventh month. I am giving you one more week, so you can get used to the idea," the Admiral told her.

"Cottle is just trying to bug me," she stated stubbornly.

"Kara, please, just do what he says, or he'll keep you away from vipers for a very long time," he advised her.

"Frakking doctor!" Kara cursed before she turned around and left the CIC, grumbling profanities as she walked away.

--

Lee had just picked Kacey up from daycare and currently they were conspiring about something.

"You think Mommy will like it?" Apollo asked his daughter, kneeling in front of her.

"Yes, Daddy," she answered him with a huge smile in her face.

In the way to their quarters, they saw Kat and Hotdog leaving hurriedly the bunkroom. Kat was still zipping her flight suit and Hotdog throwing the 'on service' boots inside the room.

"Oh, hi Captain," he greeted Lee when he noticed his presence.

"Hotdog, Kat," he said. "Don't you have CAP now?"

"Yeah," Kat said embarrassed. "We were just going." She grabbed Hotdog's arm and dragged him to the hangar deck.

"See you later. Enjoy the day," Lee wished them, make an effort not to start laughing. He turned to Kacey. "Never do what they did."

"I'm gonna do it," she said, giggling, not aware of what exactly the two pilots had been doing.

"You are?" Lee asked. "Looks like someone's getting home-schooled."

Minutes later, they arrived their quarters and found Kara pacing around the room, not looking very happy.

"What happened?" Lee asked her.

"Stupid Cottle had your father forcing me to start my maternity leave in a week!" she complained. "What am I going to do? Knit?"

"I'm sure you'll find a way to entertain yourself," he said. "As for knitting, I don't think there are yarns in the fleet."

"Oh, shut up!" she told him.

"Is Mommy mad?" Kacey asked them.

"Only at Doctor Cottle," Kara told her daughter. "He's a big pain in the…" she interrupted herself when she remembered she was talking to Kacey. "You know what? Let's just forget it."

"Speaking of forgetting, do you remember what day is today?" Lee asked his wife.

She gave him a confused look in return. "Oh, man! Don't tell me I have to deliver all that paperwork about the nuggets today."

"Nope, don't worry, it does not have to do with paperwork," Lee assured her. He smiled at her. "How does it feel to be twenty-seven years old?"

"Twenty-seven?" Moments later, she realized what he was talking about. "Oh gods, I forgot my own birthday!"

"But we didn't, did we, Kace?" he asked their daughter.

"No, Daddy," she replied, giving him a Starbuck grin.

"And what did we do for Mommy?" he asked her.

"Twiad!" Kacey answered.

"What?" Kara asked, even more confused than she was before.

"In about half an hour, the rec room will harbor a triad tournament in honor of the great Starbuck. The winner will be free of CAP for a whole month. The first to lose will be your 'slave' 'till the baby is born," Lee told her. "I'm participating as well, the other pilots demanded it."

She was speechless. "Well, you two are the first persons to give me a slave for my birthday."

"Do you like the idea?" he asked her.

"Are you kidding? You just gave me a distraction for the next two months," she declared, already making dark plans in her mind. "But don't expect me to be nice if you're the one who loses first."

--

After leaving Kacey in their quarters with her grandfather, Lee and Kara had gone to the rec room.

Racetrack, Athena, Kat and Helo were the playing triad in one of the tables as they were the ones who had reached the finals.

"Hotdog, be useful and find me some crackers," Kara, who was sitting in a chair, resting her arms in her large stomach, told her former nugget.

"But I am watching them play!" he complained.

"You knew the rules when you signed up for the competition, Constanza," Lee told him. "The first to lose becomes her slave. Next time, think twice before you bluff with a crappy hand. Now, do what she says."

"How the frak am I supposed to get crackers?" Hotdog asked.

"I don't know and I don't care. Sell a kidney if you need! Just bring the frakking crackers!" Kara shouted at the other pilot, who immediately got up and went to look for them.

"Poor guy," Sam, who was feet a few feet away from them, told his fiancée. "He has two hard months in front of him."

"What did you just say, Sam?!" Starbuck said.

"Nothing," he replied quickly. "Mood swing," he mouthed to Seelix.

Back in the triad table, Kat and Athena were already out of money.

"Three Up!" Racetrack announced, showing her combination. "Beat that, Helo!"

Helo smiled mischievously. He started putting his cards one by one in the table, revealing that he had full colors. "Oh, Maggie, that must really hurt." He grabbed all the money in the center of the table. "I hope you all have nice CAPs for the next thirty days."

"Frak you, Helo," Racetrack said.

"And the winner of this tournament is… Me, Karl Agathon," Helo announced.

"Damn you!" Kat told him.

While everyone pretested, Kara and Lee snuck out of the room and went back to their quarters. Triad tournaments in Galactica always ended up in the same way: someone would give the winner a black eye.

When they arrived to the cabin, they found Kacey already sleeping in her bunk and Bill in a chair next to her, also asleep, with a chidren's book resting open in his hands. He was probably reading her a story when he fell asleep.

Kara shook him awake. "Dad, wake up. We're back."

"Hum?" He was still half-asleep.

"You can go back to your room, Dad," she told him.

"Oh, right," he said, returning to the living world. He got up from the chair and put the book in there. "See you tomorrow, then."

"Bye, Dad," Lee said when his father crossed paths with him in the way out.

"'Night," Bill grumbled.

He walked with Kara to their bedroom. "So, did you like your birthday this year?" he asked her.

"I loved it," she told him. "I love you."

"Back at you." With that, he kissed her passionately. They never got tired of this kisses. Their lips brushing hungrily in each other's, the waves of heat, his hands in her hair and, now, the baby bump pressuring Lee's abdominal muscles.

"A lot better than last year," she murmured when they broke apart.

"Forget last year," he told her. "You're here now. With me and Kacey. Next year you'll also be with our baby. That is what matters."

He was right. That was what mattered. For the first time in 27 birthdays, she was happy not to be alone in her birthday.

**A/N: My dear readers, I am asking for reviews once again. I only had 5 last chapter. Give me your feedback please. I hope you liked it.**


	23. Bugging Helo

One month after the triad tournament, Kara was in the CAG's office, lounging in a couch while she read a book. Kacey was in daycare along with her best-friend Hera. These two were almost inseparable these days.

"Well, aren't you comfy in there?" Lee said when he arrived from CAP. "Why are you here in my office instead of our Cabin?"

"Hotdog's cleaning it, and that detergent smell makes me sick," she answered him, closing the book. "I'm bored. Please, let me stay here today. I'm half a dozen books away from reading your father's entire library. My literary culture is getting way to vast for my own taste."

"A little knowledge never hurt anyone," Lee told her.

"Unless someone hits you with a book," she joked. "Please, can I stay?"

"Cottle said you should relax now, Kara. You're due in a month."

"I'm sick of just staying home and be fat," she told him.

He approached her and enveloped her in a hug, which was not easy as currently she had two times her usual diameter. "You're not fat, you're pregnant. And if you asked me, I'd say you look absolutely beautiful. It is like you have a special glow." He kissed her forehead.

She was looking at him with an emotional smile. "Don't say this kind of things to me, Lee. You'll turn my hormones to weepy mode. But please, let me stay." When she gave him the Starbuck pleading look, he knew he could not say no.

"Fine, you win. But don't even think of getting more that three feet close to vipers or raptors or anything that flies. And if there is any attack while you're here, you'll go back to our quarters and stay there."

She frowned. "You're bossy."

"Well, so are you. I guess we're a perfect match," he stated. "Go to the deck and tease the nuggets or something. Just stay away from work."

"Anything else, sir?" she asked in a mock-formal way.

"No, that will be all, Captain," he replied in the same tone. She saluted him in return, smiling smugly, and turned to leave. "Hey, hey. No kiss?"

"I'm sorry sir, but do you have the habit of kissing your pilots?" Kara asked him.

"I can make an exception for you," he told her, before approaching her and crashing his lips on hers.

--

Helo was working in his raptor when he noticed Kara approaching him.

"Weren't you banned from this deck?" he asked her.

"I am allowed here for today. I guess frakking the CAG has its benefits," Starbuck joked. "Where are the nuggets? I need someone to tease and Hotdog is busy cleaning my cabin."

"They're flying out there with Racetrack. You'll have to wait 'till they come down. Where's Mini-buck?"

"In daycare with your kid," she told him. "I'll get her in a few hours. So, Helo, how does it feel to be back on the CAP schedules?"

"Frak off," he told her. "I bet you'd give an arm to be out there flying."

She sat in the raptor's ramp. As much as she loved flying, being pregnant was something that made her unbelievably happy. Maybe Kara refused to admit it, but she would not switch that feeling for anything else in the universe. Complaining 24/7 about the swollen ankles and the back aches was just a way to keep her reputation up. "How was I supposed to fly without an arm?" she asked him. "Sometimes you just don't make any sense at all, Helo."

"I was not saying it literally, dumbass. It is just an expression," he said.

"Oh, really?" she asked sarcastically. "I was just frakking with you!"

"Baby Adama's got you in such a good mood today," he told her. "Your humor is just heartbreaking."

"Stop making fun of the pregnant woman. It is supposed to be the other way around," she complained. "Don't make me go get the CAG and the Admiral to help me kick your ass."

"Oh, I am paralyzed with fear," he told her sarcastically.

"Shut up," she murmured. "Have a nice CAP and try to bring the raptor back in one piece."

"Back at you. No, wait, I forgot you were grounded. My bad," he said, faking embarrassment.

She hit him in the arm and turned around in return.

--

Later that day, Kara was lying in the couch while listening to the wireless. Kacey was in the table drawing.

"…_and for everyone's surprise, after spending more than eight months in Galactica's brig, Gaius Baltar was acquitted this morning after being cleared of all charges against him," _Playa Palacios announced through the wireless.

"Frak me," Kara murmured to herself.

"_Romo Lampkin was in charge of Baltar's defence. It is unclear where the former president will live or how his security will be assured,_" the reporter continued.

Kara got up and turned the wireless device off. _Another idiot walking free in the fleet_, she thought. She sat next to Kacey. "What are you drawing, honey?"

The little girl grinned. "Us," Kacey said. She pointed at the figures in the paper. "Mommy, Daddy, me and the baby."

She looked the drawing. It was pretty good for a kid of her age. She had her third birthday in the previous week. At least according to her documents.

"Mommy, is baby a gal ow a boy?" Kacey asked suddenly.

"No idea, kid. That is something only Doctor Cottle knows and he refuses to tell me," Kara answered.

"Why?" her daughter asked, confused.

'_Cause he likes to piss me off,_ she thought. "'Cause he's a crazy old man," she told Kacey. "But what do you prefer? A brother or a sister?"

She shrugged her shoulders. "Dunno. Both."

"Sorry to disappoint, Kace, but there's only one baby in my tummy. Still, it is good to know that you like both," Kara kissed her daughter's blond hair. "Want help coloring the drawing?" she asked, receiving an excited nod in return. She grabbed a crayon and preceded coloring the draw.

That was how Lee found them when he arrived a few minutes later.

"Hello, ladies," he greeted them.

"Daddy, look at my draw," Kacey said.

He approached them and looked at his daughter's masterpiece.

"It's us," Kara informed him. She pointed at a figure that had a balloon of thought over his head saying: _"My adored wife flies so much better than me"_.

"Mommy wrote it," Kacey told him, smiling.

"Oh, did she?" he asked, looking pointedly at Kara.

"I'm just pointing the truth," she told him.

"We'll have to check that when you're back in service," he told her.

"My pleasure, Mr. CAG."

"Now, I think that a little girl in this room needs a bath," Lee declared. "Who would that be?"

Kacey giggled.

"Mr. Rubber Duck and his friends, the Bubbles, are waiting for a small blondie in the tub," Lee said.

"Me Daddy!" Kacey said, laughing.

"Are you sure?" he said.

"Daddy!"

"Okay, okay. To the tub, little soldier," he instructed her, who immediately got up and ran to the bathroom. He turned to Kara before he followed his daughter to the bathroom. "I fly so much better than you."

"In your dreams, Apollo. Just wait 'till I have this kid and I'll kick your sorry sexy ass out there."

**A/N: Small chapter, I know, but tonight I have prom and this week has been crazy. Send me your feedback. Help me reach 200 reviews or a bit more.**


	24. Almost Here

Lee was dressing Kacey in order to take her to daycare. Kara was still sleeping in their bunk. Finding a position comfortable enough to fall asleep was not very easy these days, either because of her sore back or her giant stomach, so Lee and even Kacey were always careful not to wake Kara up once she had reached dreamland.

"Ready to go, nugget?" he asked his daughter.

"Yes, Daddy," Kacey replied. The little girl looked more and more adorable every day. She was wearing pigtails in her hair and that huge grin that characterized her. That kid was the pride of Lee Adama's eyes. Still, she occasionally threw some temper tantrums but that was expected; after all, she was half-Thrace.

Before leaving the quarters, Lee lifted the phone in order to check if it was working. The baby was due in three days, but according to Cottle, Kara was like a ticking bomb now, which meant she could go in labor at any moment. Since the day Cottle had told him that, two weeks before, Lee had been checking the phone every day, to make sure Kara would be able to call him when it was time.

After making sure everything was set, he opened the hatch and exited it with his daughter, closing it carefully behind him.

--

When Sharon was walking to the Hangar Deck, she crossed paths with Jane, who was going to the CIC. She was not escorted by marines everywhere anymore. Most of the people treated her like a normal person. Of course there were also the ones who kept making dirty comments and shooting her deathly glares, but that was something unavoidable. Sharon had already gotten used to that herself.

"Morning, Jane," she greeted the now dark blonde cylon.

"Good morning, Athena," she replied.

"So…did you hear the news about Baltar?" Sharon asked her as they walked, trying to sound casual.

"Yes, I did. He built his own harem, didn't he?" she said in a disgusted tone.

"They call it a cult, but that's pretty much the same."

"Well, I hope he's not counting in my presence among his worshipers. After our… encounter the day he was freed, I'm trying to stay as far away from him as I can," Jane stated.

"I can't blame you for that," Sharon murmured.

"I shouldn't have visited him in the first place. Our meetings always end up the same way because I can't keep my pants on around him," she declared in a frustrated tone. "Is this part of my programming? Not resisting Gaius?"

"No, that's part of being in love. You can't pick who you love."

"That could have gotten me in a lot of trouble. I mean, Madam President and Admiral Adama could have seen that slip as treason. I could have been sent back to the brig," Jane said.

"What? For frakking a guy?" Athena inquired her.

"A public enemy," Jane corrected her.

"Look, Roslin knows what happened and she didn't have you arrested. You confessed that mistake to her and promised you'd not do it again. You respect her and she knows that. Even humans make mistakes and unlike you, they don't confess them to someone who controls our fate," she said when they arrived the CIC.

"If you see Gaius around, tell him I'm not going to be his bitch. I've had enough of his crap," Jane told her friend and entered the CIC.

--

Kara was making a sketch in a paper in order to distract herself. Bugging Hotdog was already becoming a repetitive task, so she had given him the afternoon off.

In the last month, she had been so bored that she managed to read every book in Bill Adama's collection plus all the law books that used to belong to Lee's grandfather. She learned more in that period than she did in school.

Sometimes people would come by to keep her company, Lee made sure of that. Even Tigh had come to visit her. They had become a lot friendlier after New Caprica. In the previous day, he had shown up with Laura and the Admiral and together they played Triad. The president of the Twelve Colonies not only knew how to play, but also had kicked the two men's asses after spending half an hour pretending that she didn't know a thing about the game. Having used that trick several times in the academy, Kara recognized Roslin's plan but decided to keep it quiet so the Admiral and the XO would have their pockets cleaned. It was a nice time they had spent together.

However, at the moment she felt like she would die with the boredom. When she reached for another pencil, Kara felt a sharp pain in her stomach.

"Holy Frak! Calm down, Baby. There's no need for you to kick that hard," she said, massaging her bump.

She got up in order to walk around the room, still massaging her stomach. That usually calmed the baby down.

"You don't need to kick Mommy in order to remind her that you're in there, okay?" she told the baby.

While she walked, Kara had a weird sensation in her abdomen and felt something warm between her legs. She immediately looked down and noticed what was going on. Her water broke.

"Okay, so it was not kicking," she murmured, reaching for the phone. Jane answered from the CIC's communication base. "Jane, it's Kara, please contact Lee for me and tell him it is time."

"I'll do it right away. Don't hung up," she replied. About a minute and a half later, Jane's voice was back. "Starbuck, you still there?"

"Yeah, I am."

"Okay, Lee's out on CAP but I already instructed him to come back. Just stay where you are, I'm going to warn Cottle and Helo's getting there to take you to the sickbay," Jane informed Kara.

"Okay," she agreed and hung up the phone.

She sat on the couch waiting for Helo to arrive. Kara was afraid, terrified. What if anything went wrong and the baby… _No, it is not time to think of this, _she decided. She kept massaging her stomach in order to comfort the baby, if it was even possible.

Helo was there around five minutes later with a wheelchair.

"No frakking way I'm going in there," she declared.

"It's either that or I'm carrying you. The sickbay is like in the other side of the ship, Starbuck. You won't be able to walk there," he told her firmly.

She eventually gave in and sat in the wheelchair. While he took her to the sickbay, she experienced another contraction.

"You okay?" Helo asked her.

"No, I'm not! Just take me to the sickbay. I want drugs!" she shouted.

--

Lee was running like a madman. He had landed his viper in a rush and hurried to meet Kara in the sickbay.

Ishay greeted him when he entered the infirmary and pointed at one of the areas surrounded by curtains, indicating that his wife was in there. If Ishay hadn't told him where Kara was, he'd find out anyway because her shouts were echoing through the whole sickbay.

"You sadist!" he heard her screaming behind the curtain. "Give me drugs!"

"I'm sorry, Captain, but we have rules in this sickbay. The painkillers are reserved to a list of limited cases. Childbirth is not one of them," Cottle replied.

"Screw the rules!"She shouted. "Just give me something for the pain!"

He took a deep breath and opened the curtain to see Cottle in front of Kara, who was lying in a bed dressed in a hospital garment, and Helo sitting in a chair trying to contain his laugher.

As soon as Starbuck saw her husband, her face shifted to an angered expression.

"You bastard! All of this is your fault!" she screamed, grabbing a cup in the table next to her bed and throwing in at him.

Luckily, Lee was able to duck before it hit him and the cup shattered on the floor a few feet away from him.

"Calm down!" Cottle said. "You need to keep you blood pressure down or the kid will be in distress."

Kara seemed to control herself a bit and after Cottle left to take care of another patient, Lee used all his courage to approach his wife in the bed. She still looked murderous and refused to look him in the eyes.

"You're late," she murmured.

"I'm sorry," he apologized, using his hand to brush a strand of hair our of her face. "I almost crashed my viper in the landing bay in order to get here as quickly as I could."

She smiled a bit and finally looked at him. "Sorry about the cup. I was kind of over the edge because you were not here."

Helo got up from his chair. "I'm sorry to interrupt, but I need to go. Sharon and I will take care of Kacey while you're here. Don't worry about her."

"Thanks, Helo," Kara said.

"Tell her we love her, okay?" Lee requested. "And that we went to get her baby brother or sister."

"Sure," Helo agreed. "Good luck!"

After Helo was gone, Lee climbed in the bed next to Kara and lay on top of the covers. She rested her head in his shoulder.

"So…I guess this is it. Our baby is almost here," he murmured.

"Yep," she agreed. "You think we can do it?"

"We are doing fine with Kacey," he told her.

"Yeah, but when we got her she was already potty trained and all of that," Kara stated.

Before he was able to reply, Kara grasped his hand as she felt a contraction. She took a deep breath when it was over.

"Are you alright?" Lee asked her as he kissed his forehead.

"Do I look alright?" she asked sharply.

Ishay opened the curtain and entered in order to check the dilatation. "You're about 5 cm dilated," she declared after examining Kara.

"What does that mean?" Kara inquired the medic.

"You need to reach 10 cm, Captain. This means it may take hours," Ishay answered.

"How many?" Lee asked nervously, holding Kara's hand.

"The average is 8 hours in the first childbirth," she explained.

"8 hours?!" Kara said in shock. "Oh, gods!"

"It is proved that walking can rush the process," the medic said before leaving.

Kara sighed and turned to Lee. "This will be a long night…"

**A/N: Here is the chapter. The baby is coming. I am already working in next chapter, so if you review, maybe I'll post the next chapter before monday. Give me your opinion and ideas. Do you think it is boy or girl? And what name do you imagine the baby will have? Review!**


	25. The New Adama

Ishay had said 8 hours, but Kara Thrace never followed the average. Ten hours later, she was still not fully dilated. The contractions were stronger, longer and barely two minutes apart. She wanted to push in every contraction. During those hours, Kara used every single curse word she knew, slapped Lee twice and threatened to emasculate him once.

Nevertheless, Lee refused to leave her side. He had only left for a few minutes to talk to Kacey because Kara made him go. Apart from that, he was always there, holding her hand, massaging her back, calming her down.

"You are never, ever touching me again, Lee Adama," Kara declared for the fifth time that night. "If you want another kid, call the toasters and ask them to make one the same way they made Kacey, 'cause I'm not ever doing this again."

"Sure, Honey," Lee replied, not even listening to what she had said. When Bill Adama had come by to see Kara a few hours earlier, he had advised his son to always agree with his wife while she was in labor or else he could end up with a black eye… or worse.

Cottle come by again to check the dilatation.

"Congratulations, Captain," the Doctor said after examining Kara. "You just won a trip to the delivery room."

"Finally," Kara huffed.

"I'll call Ishay to get you ready," Cottle told her. He turned to Lee. "If you want to coach her, come with me. You need to get scrubbed."

Lee nodded and kissed his wife in the forehead. "I'll be waiting for them to bring you inside."

"You'd better," she replied.

--

"Alright, Captain, we're almost done," Cottle said. "In the next contraction, push as hard as you can."

"That's what you've been saying for the whole past hour!" Kara shouted. She grasped Lee's hand when she felt the contraction hit her.

"Come on, Kara! Push!" her husband encouraged her as he held her hand.

"I can't!" she replied as she tried to push. He could see she was tired and in pain.

"Of course you can, Kara. You can do anything," he said.

She kept pushing until the contraction was over and she collapsed on the pillow behind her back.

Lee cleaned her forehead with a wet cloth. "You're doing great, Honey. You really are."

"I can't do this anymore," she said, exhausted. "I just want this to be over."

"It's almost done, Starbuck," Ishay told her.

"Oh, gods," Kara said as she felt another contraction. A wave of adrenaline hit her at the same time. _Now or never, _she thought. She pushed so hard that the next thing she heard was a small cry of an infant. It was over. Her baby was there. Hers and Lee's.

Once again, she collapsed in her pillow, but this time, there was a smile in her face.

Lee kissed her sweaty forehead. "I love you so much, Kara," he told her. "So…frakking…much."

"I love you too, Lee," Kara replied. All the pain of the labor was worth that single moment.

Seconds later, Ishay approached her with a small bundle.

"Congratulations, you have a baby boy," she announced to the proud parents while she put the infant in his mother's arms.

Kara Thrace, now Adama, was not the weepy kind of person. She rarely cried, it was not her thing. Nevertheless, she couldn't keep her tears when she saw her son for the first time. He was the smallest being she had ever held. Had her mother ever felt that when she held her for the first time? _She couldn't. She wouldn't have done what she did if she had ever felt this, _Kara concluded. She loosened the yellow blanket a bit in order to count all the baby's fingers and toes, checking if there was ten of each.

Lee was also marveled with the sight of his son. He was so damn perfect. On the top of his head, there was a bit of blond hair that he had definitely got from Kara.

"Hi, Baby," Kara murmured to her small son. "I'm your mommy and I just wanted you to know that I love you very much."

Lee caressed the baby's cheek. "We make beautiful babies, don't we?"

"We surely do," she agreed. "Do you want to hold him?"

Lee nodded. Kara carefully put the baby in his father's arms.

"Be careful with his head," Ishay advised them.

Apollo nodded and walked around the room with the infant in his arms while Cottle took care of Kara.

"Hey, little guy," Lee greeted his son. "We've been waiting for you for a long time. Your big sister, Kacey, can't wait to meet you."

Minutes later, after the baby was fed and checked, Kara was brought back to her bed in the infirmary in order to rest.

"He needs a name, Lee," Kara said, lying on her side. "Any ideas?"

He looked at the little baby sleeping in the plastic bassinet next to the bed for a while. "I think I have just the perfect one. It is the name of someone really important for both of us, but that is not around anymore."

Kara understood immediately and smiled. "Zak," she murmured.

"Zakary," Lee said. "Do you like it?"

"I love it, Lee," she stated.

"Thrace as a middle name," he finished. "You deserve it."

They stared at baby Zak together for a few minutes.

"I wish we had had a moment like this with Kacey," Kara murmured.

"Me too," Lee agreed.

"We didn't get to see being born, her first smile and her first steps…" she said.

"All that matters is that we are together now," Lee stated. "Kacey was a gift that none of us expected. Just having her with us is a miracle."

Kara nodded and resumed admiring her youngest child. In the bassinet, baby Zak woke up and opened his eyes. Kara noticed his eyes were blue. She had heard it was normal for newborns to be born blue eyed but change their eye color as time passed. Deep inside, she wished the baby would keep his eyes blue, like his daddy.

"Kacey must be awake already," Lee said. "I'm going to get her so she can meet her baby brother."

"'Kay," she agreed. "But before you leave, give him to me."

Apollo lifted his son from the bassinet. "I'm gonna get your big sister, okay? You'll stay with Mommy." He kissed the baby's forehead and carefully gave him to Kara.

It seemed so unreal to her. 24 hours earlier, that little being was inside of her and now he was resting in her arms. He was so small; she felt like she could break him by making any sudden movement. His little eyes were examining her. She wondered what the baby was thinking.

"Hem, hem." That sound brought Kara back to reality and she looked up from her son. Standing in front of her, were Bill Adama and Laura Roslin.

"Dad, Laura," she said

"We're sorry to distract you from your current activities, but we were expecting to see Baby Adama, before we leave to meet the Quorum" Laura told her.

"Boy or girl?" Bill asked.

"Boy," Kara declared proudly.

They approached the bed in order to get a better glimpse of the baby, who was moving in his mother's arms.

"He looks just like Lee did when he was born. Except for the hair," Bill stated after observing the child for a couple of minutes.

"Do you what to hold your grandson, Admiral?"

"Of course I do."

Bill positioned himself next to the bed so Kara could pass him the baby more easily.

"He's precious, Kara," Laura told her.

"Does he have a name yet?" the Admiral asked.

"Yes, he does," Kara confirmed. "Dad, meet Zakary Thrace Adama."

"You named him after Zak?" he asked surprised.

"We did. Zak was important for both of us. Plus, it is a nice name."

"It surely is."He passed the baby back to Kara. "Where's Lee?"

"He's getting Kacey so she can meet Zak," she replied.

"Alright, we'll come back later," Bill told her. "Congratulations Kara."

"Thanks, Dad. I'll tell Lee that you were here," Kara said.

Laura caressed the baby's head. "I congratulate you too, Kara. Bye, Zak."

"Looks like it is just the two of us again," Kara told her son after the admiral and the president left the sickbay. She noticed that he was observing her again with these beautiful baby blue eyes.

"Mommy!" Kacey said when she walked through the curtain followed by Lee and jumped to the bed right next to Kara.

"Hi, Sweetie," she greeted her daughter, kissing her soft blond hair. Kacey sat by her side and looked at her baby brother. "Meet your baby brother Zak."

The little girl's face turned immediately to her parents."Like Unca Zak?" she asked.

"Yeah," Lee confirmed, sitting in the opposite side of Kara's bed. "Like Uncle Zak."

Kacey looked again at her baby brother in Kara's arms. "He´s small," she concluded.

"He's just a few hours old, Kace. He'll grow," Lee told her.

She touched the baby's hand and let him give a little squeeze in her finger. "…and soft." The baby was looking at his sister attentively with his tires eyes. "His eyes are like Daddy's."

"Most of the time, Baby's eye color changes as time passes," Kara informed Kacey, hoping she was wrong.

"Listen, Kace. We need to talk," Lee told his daughter.

"'Kay," she said, looking at her father.

"Now that the baby is here, he'll need a lot of attention 'cause he's really small and can't do anything for himself. Mummy and Daddy will be pretty busy with him, but we want you to know that we'll always be there for you," Lee explained. "We'll love you the same but you'll have to share us with Zak, okay?"

"'Kay," Kacey agreed. "Can I play with him?"

Lee smiled. "For now, he'll sleep a lot so he can grow. You can only play with him when he's awake and Mommy or Daddy are around. We have to be really careful with him because he's very small. Just remember that he's not a toy."

"I know he's not a toy, he's Zak," Kacey told her father.

"Exactly. Don't you agree, Mommy?" he asked Kara.

Kara didn't answer, because she had fallen asleep with the baby snuggled in her chest while they were talking. She was probably exhausted from spending the whole night in labor.

"Mommy's napping," Kacey said, snuggling closer to her.

Lee got up and carefully lifted the baby, who was also asleep, in order to put him back in the bassinet.

"I stay with Mommy," Kacey whispered to Lee in a protective tone.

"Alright," he agreed. Lee kissed both his wife and daughter in the forehead. "Sweet dreams." Then, he opened the curtain that led to the bed next to Kara's and settled in there, falling asleep as well after several hours of sleep deprivation.

**A/N: Congratulations to those who guessed the name and the gender. Baby Zak has finally arrived. Now, be nice and review. I like to receive your opinions, your feedback. I will try to update soon, when I am able to pass all the documents and programs to my new computer, which should not take long.**


	26. Drink Buddies

Kara was lying in it bed in the life station sharing her lunch with Kacey. Ishay had taken Zak so he could receive all his immunizations and have all the newborn tests.

Lee was still snoring in the bed next to hers after spending the whole night awake holding her hand while she was in labor. Frak, he was one hell of a husband.

"Mommy," Kacey said. "Whewe will Zak sweep?"

Kara turned back to her daughter. "For now while he's still this small, he'll stay in Mommy and Daddy's room. After that we'll manage."

She used the napkin to clean Kacey's face which was dirty with food. "Baby, are you okay with the idea of having Zak around from now on?"

Kacey nodded excitedly.

"You know that he'll sleep most of the time and probably cry a lot, don't you?" she asked Kacey.

"It's okay. He my baby bwotha," the little girl told her mother.

Kara smiled and ruffled Kacey's hair. "You really are something, Kid. Let's just hope you remember that when he's crying his lungs out."

Kacey laughed at that. "Mommy, you silly."

Ishay arrived with the baby now wrapped in a fresh blue blanket. "All cleared. This little guy is healthy as a horse. Well, given his size it's more like as a pony."

"Can I howd him, Mommy?" Kacey asked.

Kara looked at Ishay for approval. She was still new at this baby stuff, so the best was asking to someone with more experience. Ishay nodded.

"Sure, Sweetie. But be careful," Kara told her daughter.

Ishay carefully put the baby in his sister's arms. "Watch his head."

Kara was watching how Kacey was amazed with Zak in her arms. "How does it feel?"

"Nice," her daughter replied.

"Do you mind if we intrude?" Helo asked when he arrived with Sharon and Hera. "We came here to meet little Zak Adama."

"It's too late to complain, isn't it?" Kara said. "You're already here. And how do you know his name?"

Hera climbed a chair and joined Kacey admiring the little boy.

"Lee told us when he came to get Kacey," Sharon explained. "Don't worry, we didn't tell anyone else. We know you want to keep the suspense."

"I was kind of disappointed you didn't name the kid Karl," Helo jokingly told her.

"Sorry, I was saving that name for when I get a dog," Kara joked back. "It would fit like a glove in a mutt covered with fleas."

"Oh, thank you, Starbuck. It is great to know how high you think of me," he told her in a mock-hurt voice.

"How are you feeling?" Sharon asked her, ignoring Helo.

"Pretty good, bearing in mind that I spent the whole night pushing a kid out of my uterus," she answered. "I need to catch up in my sleep, though."

"Looks like Apollo is not having a problem catching up in his own sleep," she stated, looking at the resting CAG.

"One would think that he was the one who had given birth," Kara agreed.

"Hey, Starbuck, you sure this kid is yours?" Helo asked her. "Cause he's kind of cute."

"I dunno. Do you think he got lost in the way here and ended up with the wrong chick?" Kara asked back.

"Maybe," he stated.

"Well, at least if he's cute, we can be sure he's not yours either. No offence to Hera," Kara said. "She was lucky enough to look just like Sharon."

"Hum?" Little Hera asked, looking up from the baby when she heard her name.

"Nothing, Princess. It's just aunt Starbuck being herself," Helo told his daughter.

"So, did you hear the news?" Athena asked Kara.

"What news?"

"Seelix broke the engagement with Sam, quit being a pilot and joined Baltar's cult," Sharon told her.

Kara's face shifted to a shocked expression. "Are you frakking with me?"She asked in a low voice so the kids would not hear.

"Nope," Helo said. "It's true."

"But their wedding was like days away from now!" she declared.

"I know. I mean, she has to be insane. Trading Sam for Baltar? Stupid polygamist Baltar? That's unbelievable," Athena continued.

"What a bitch! Poor Sam. How's he doing?"

"I think he's still in shock," Sharon told her.

Kara looked at Lee sleeping. She'd never leave him for a cheap pseudo-prophet. She loved him and their kids more than anything. Throwing everything away to join that stupid cult was just unthinkable.

"You know, maybe it is better this way," Starbuck stated. "I mean, if she left him this easily, she probably didn't love him. He deserves someone who actually loves him."

"Please, can we leave this depressing chat?" Helo pleaded. "It is time to be happy because there is one more kid in the fleet." He turned to Kacey. "Do you mind if I borrow your brother?"

"Caweful!" Kacey reminded her 'Uncle'.

"I promise I will be," he assured the little girl as he took the baby out of her arms.

"Daddy! I want a baby bwotha too!" Hera requested.

"Er… We have to discuss that, Hera," Sharon told her daughter.

"Can you do it befowe my bwithday?" she asked.

"Oh, I'd like to see you two getting out of this one," Kara murmured.

--

Sam was walking to Joe's Bar with a single goal to accomplish that afternoon: Drinking himself to stupor.

Inside the bar, Joe was serving a drink to an also very upset Jane Natasi. He approached her in the counter. Apparently, they were in the same boat.

"Is this sit taken?" he asked her, pointing at the sit next to hers.

"Knock yourself out," she murmured, taking a sip of her cup full of the Chief's Brew.

He ordered a drink for himself and they sat silently next to each other just drinking.

About ten minutes later, Jane broke the silence.

"I heard about your fiancée. I'm sorry," she murmured.

"Thanks."

"You okay?" she asked him.

"No. This sucks, you know? This sucks so much that the only thing I felt like doing was coming here and drink until I don't remember my name," he said. "So, what's your reason to be here?"

"Baltar," she told him.

"He seems to be a common problem to both of us. What did he do?"

She took a big sip of her drink before she answered and made a face at its taste. "He got me pregnant."

"Oh… okay," was all that Sam managed to say for a few minutes. "Shouldn't you be cutting in the alcohol if you're…you know."

"It's okay. The kids are not affected by this kind of stuff in the womb, at least a womb like mine. I'm a cylon, remember?" she said.

More silence followed that.

"When did you find out?" he asked.

"Last night," she said. "I didn't plan any of this. I didn't even plan sleeping with him. It just sort of happened. I loved him."

"You don't love him anymore?" he asked.

"I dunno," Jane stated. "Shouldn't you be mourning your broken engagement?"

"I was trying to forget, not mourning. Be a good drink buddy and tell me about your own problems so I can forget mine," Sam told her.

She smiled a bit. "How selfless of you," Jane stated, sarcastically.

"Don't mention it."

"I'm a frakking knocked up cylon. I told the president, you know? She said she would respect my decisions, 'cause I had already proven my loyalty to the human race. I could see she was worried, though. She's afraid I'll screw up. At least Hera proved that half-cylon kids don't come up with an incorporated riffle or something like that. And now I'm rambling. I'm confessing my feeling to someone who barely knows me as if he was my shrink."

"It's okay, I'm a good listener," he murmured. "What does Baltar say about all of this?"

"Nothing," she replied. "I don't want him to know that he's the father. I may have loved him, maybe I still do, but I don't trust him. He'd end up hurting us. So, I'm going to do this all alone."

"No, you won't," he told her. "You have your friends. Kara will help and so will Athena."

"They have their own families," Jane murmured.

"You'll be fine," he said.

"Frak, I'm sorry for bothering you with my problems," she apologized.

"It's okay. Your problems just saved me from a terrible hangover tomorrow," he told her.

"You're welcome."

"I miss Seelix," he confessed.

"You'll be fine," she assured him just like he had done a few minutes earlier. "Let's trash Gaius a bit more to cheer you up."

"You're a nice drink buddy. This may be the beginning of a very good friendship, Natasi."

Even though none of them was aware of that, they had more in common than they thought. After all, both of them belonged to the same race…

**A/N: Here's the update. Send your reviews, their my inspiration to write. Hope you all liked the chapter. One more half-cylon on the way. Review!**


	27. Guess Who Came By

Two days after Zak's birth, the Adamas returned to their cabin after Cottle had kicked Kara out of his sickbay.

"_Keep your pants on for __the next six weeks, Major,"_ he had yelled at Lee before closing the life-station's hatch. Lee groaned. Six more weeks without being able to make love to his wife…

According to Galactica's internal clock, it was already almost an hour past kid's bedtime. It had taken a lot of convincing to get Kacey to go to sleep. She was fascinated with her little brother and had spent the whole afternoon 'helping' Kara taking care of him. Lee, on the other hand, had wasted the whole afternoon trying to set the baby's crib and ended up having to ask the Chief for help.

Baby Zak was asleep even before he hit the mattress. Nevertheless, Lee had the feeling that the baby would not always be as quiet as he was in his first day home. With Kara as a mother, the kid was market to become a loud little one.

Currently, Lee was taking a shower while Kara was sitting in the bathroom floor with the baby monitor by her side.

"I'm worried about Sam," she told him. "I think you should talk to him or something."

"Why me?" he asked from inside the shower. "I mean we're friendly but you are closer to him than I am."

"I left him as well, remember? I don't think I am the best person to do that. Plus, you're a guy," she said.

"And your point is…"

"You guys stick together in this stuff," she said.

"No, we don't," he replied.

Sick of hearing her husband contesting her, Kara got up from the floor and flushed the toilet, causing the water in the shower to become incredibly hot.

"Frak!" she heard him yell in the shower.

He slightly opened the shower curtain. "What was that for?! Are you trying to cook me?!"

"I bet you'd taste a lot better than the algae, Honey. But no, I wasn't trying to cook you as I need you to change the baby's diapers. That was just to make you stop bitching and do what I said," Kara told him.

"I married a tyrant!" he stated.

"Shut up," she said.

"I love you too," he said, closing the curtain.

"You'd better hurry up, Lee," Kara told him. "You still need to go talk to Sam. Sharon mentioned he'd probably be in Joe's bar."

"Now?" Lee asked. "It's late!"

"Don't leave for tomorrow the stuff you can do today," she told him as he exited the shower wrapped in a towel. She approached him and whispered in his ear seductively. "I promise that if you do this now, you'll have a very, very good surprise about six weeks from now."

Lee gulped. "Where did you say Anders was?"

However, when he reached the bar minutes later, he immediately realized that Samuel T. Anders did not need someone to cheer him up as he was lively talking and laughing to Jane Natasi. Lee mentally thanked Jane and returned to his quarters.

He found Kara brushing her teeth in the bathroom. She saw his reflex in the mirror and turned around still with the toothbrush in her mouth.

"What awe you doin' hewe?" she asked him, before cleaning the toothpaste in her mouth. "Was it like a light-speed talk you had with Sam?"

"No. I didn't talk to him at all," Lee told her. "He seemed to be busy flirting with you friend Jane."

"Flirting with Jane? The-petty-officer-formerly-known-as-Number-Six Jane?" she asked surprised. "Don't frak with me. She's still trying to get over our favorite former president."

"I'm not sure if they were really flirting, but they were surely laughing," he said.

"Laughing, hum? We'll see how things go…" Kara murmured with a slight smile in her face as she walked to Zak's crib in order to check the baby.

Lee wrapped his arms around her waist and kissed her neck. "I want payback for that trip to the bar, you know?"

She turned around to face him. She looked kind of frustrated. "Cottle said I have to behave like a good nun for the month and a half, remember?"

"I'm counting the days, Kara. No, I'm counting the hours," he told her. "However, he didn't say anything against us making out like teenagers, did he?"

Kara smiled. "I like the way you think, Mr. CAG."

In response, he lifted her from the floor to his arms and carried her to their rack.

"We have to be careful not to wake the baby," Lee told her while he put her down.

"He'll be fine," she assured him. "Like teenagers?"

"Like teenagers," he repeated before capturing her lips with his mouth.

--

One week later, one of the passenger transportation shuttles had some problems and needed to stop in Galactica.

"Dear Passengers, due to some mechanical problems, we will have to make a stop in Galactica. We hope to resolve the problem soon," the commander announced.

"Great," Anastasia Dualla murmured to herself sarcastically. She was coming back to her home in the _Aurora_ from work, after finishing the morning shift.

Since her divorce, Dualla had been trying to cut everything that connected her to her ex-husband or, by extension, to Galactica. But now the gods had tricked her and she was going to that Battlestar either she wanted or not. It was not that she hated Galactica, it was just that she wanted to move on with her life, to start a new phase. In her mind, letting go of her past in 'the bucket' was the first step.

_Hopefully nobody will notice my presence, _she thought.

She was not that lucky. As soon as she stepped out of the shuttle, Cally Tyrol recognized her and immediately approached her with a smile.

"Dee! Long time, no see!" Cally greeted her. "How are you?"

"I'm good. How's Nicky?" Dee asked her.

"He's great. Getting bigger every day," she told her.

"How old is he now?"

"16 months old," Cally informed Dee. "Where have you been? All these months passed and we didn't get a single new from you."

Cally had always been a good friend, she didn't mean to worry her. That was just collateral damage coming from her attempt to move on.

"I've been busy with work," Dee said.

"What do you do these days?"

"I work in the command station of the _Thera Sita_. I was just going back home," she replied. "By the way, will the shuttle's repairs take long?"

"According to what Galen said, you are having problems with your propulsor. It will not take less than four hours to fix," Cally informed her. "I may be a while before it can leave, maybe they'll send another shuttle. I've got to return to work, see you later, Dee."

"Yeah, you too, Cally," she said, smiling faintly.

Dualla walked around the Hangar Deck. Everything looked pretty much the same. The deckhands were working on vipers, groups of pilots stood chatting, a small mob of nuggets followed Racetrack around the deck… Dee kept strolling around the deck until she noticed Starbuck entering the deck followed by her daughter. She was carrying what seemed to be a baby. _What is Kara Thrace doing in the Hangar Deck with a baby?_

"Dee!" someone called behind her. She turned and saw Lee walking in her direction.

_Frak! Frak! Frak! _She cursed in her head. Lee Adama was the last person she wanted to see that day. _Calm down! Act normally or you'll look like a fool, _she ordered herself.

"Hi, Lee," she said in a controlled voice.

"It's been a long time," he stated. "How're you doing?"

"I'm alright," she answered simply.

"Good," he replied. "Did you come by for a visit or something?"

"No, there were some problems in my shuttle so it had to stop here," she told him.

That was an awkward conversation. Kara acted so naturally around her ex-husband; why couldn't he do the same with Dee?

"Major," a nugget called Lee. "Your wife is looking for you."

"Thanks, Murray," Lee told the nugget. "Tell her to meet me here."

After the nugget left, he turned back at Dee. She was hiding it well, but she was kind of upset he was already married. _Am I that easy to forget?_

"You got married again?" she asked, trying to sound casual.

"Yeah, didn't you receive the notes I sent you?" he asked her.

_Damn__!_ She cursed herself.Dee had in fact received the notes, however, when she noticed that it was Lee who had sent them, she threw them away.

"No, I didn't," she lied. "So…who's she?"

"Starbuck."

Starbuck, of course it was her. She had always haunted hers and Lee's relationship. Dualla also suspected that Lee had only proposed her because Starbuck had gotten married to Anders.

"Oh…" Dee said. "So when I saw her earlier, the baby she had was…"

"Our son," he finished for her. "His name is Zak. He's a week old. Listen, Dee. I'm sorry you found out this way…"

"It's okay. Any more sparkling news I should know?" she asked coldly. She was actually mad at herself. That plan wipe the past so she could move on was revealing itself stupid. _I could have avoided this situation if I had just opened the damn letter! _

"Kacey is also my daughter, but that's a long story," Lee told her.

Before Dee could ask how that was possible, the XO's voice sounded through all the deck. _"Passengers of Shuttle 215, there is a new ship in Airlock 12 to take you to your destination. Passengers of Shuttle 215 please go to Airlock 12."_

"That's my ride," Dee told her Ex-Husband. "Congratulations on the marriage and the kids. Bye."

"Bye," he replied as she left.

"Daddy!" he heard Kacey call. He turned around and saw his daughter running in his direction. He promptly lowered himself to the little girl's level and received her in his arms, picking her up from the floor.

"Had fun spending the morning with Mommy?" he asked Kacey.

"Yes!" she told him excitedly. "I hewped Mommy giving Zak a bath."

"More like these two gave me a bath together," Kara told Lee. "They were all jumpy. It was like a splashing contest lead by Miss Kacey here. I ended up looking like the one who had taken a bath. It was kind of fun though."

"Oh, looks like you had a nice morning," he told a giggling Kacey while he put her back on the floor.

"Was that Dee who was talking to you?" she asked her husband as she passed him the baby in order to give her arms a little rest.

"Yeah. Her ship had to come to Galactica in order to be repaired," he told Kara.

"So, how was your chat?"

"Tense. She said she didn't know about you and me being together," Lee said.

Kara snorted. "How's that possible? Does she live under a rock or something? Everyone in Galactica knows. Didn't they tell her? And you sent her a note months ago, didn't you?"

"Apparently she didn't receive it," Lee said. "It was kind of uncomfortable explaining her about what happened."

Kara laughed. "Oh, poor, poor Apollo," Kara joked.

"Oh, okay. Make fun of me," he said, pretending to be offended.

She kissed him lightly. "You know this is my twisted way of saying 'I love you'," she declared.

"Oh… so you must really love Hotdog, 'cause he is one of your favorite victims," Lee teased her.

"Totally. I've been thinking of shacking up with him and all, but he's afraid Kat would kill him if she found out about our torrid affair," Kara replied, trying to sound serious.

"Bad visual," Lee said, disgusted.

"I'm hungwy," Kacey said.

"To the mess hall, then," Kara commanded, taking her daughter by the hand.

--

Before entering her shuttle, Dee was able to get a glimpse of Lee and his family. She had to admit that if Lee had stayed with her, they would never have what he did right now. They seemed happy, as happy as one can be living in a Battlestar. Lee had already gotten over her. It was time she did the same for him.

**A/N: Once again, I'm sorry for the delay, but the National Exams (they are kind of the equivalent to the SAT's) are coming up and I didn't have a lot of time to write. I will only be able to update thursday of later. Last chapter, I only received 7 reviews. It is not bad, but please, readers, send me your feedback. I was also thinking of including the Cylon civil war in this fic (with a few changes, of course). Give me your opinion about that. Review!**


	28. I Never

Lee knocked in his father's hatch. It was the middle of the afternoon and he needed to fix some things for that night. One of these things, involved his father's help.

"Come in," he heard the Admiral say from inside.

Lee opened the hatch and entered the room, closing it behind him. Bill Adama was wearing his reading glasses while he looked at some reports. Seeing his son in the room, he took off the glasses and put the papers down.

"Decided to drop by and pay a visit to your old father?" Bill asked.

"Yeah, Colonel Tigh told me you were here alone, so I decided to show up," Lee said. He was thinking of a way to make his request sound like a favor to the Old Man. "Listen, I have a proposition to make. You love to have Kacey and Zak around and they love to spend time with you… at least Kacey, 'cause Zak is just a baby. So, what do say they stay with you tonight? I bet you'd love it."

Bill raised an eyebrow. He did the math in his head and realized the real reason for all that. "Is there any special reason to justify this _proposition_?"

"What do you mean?" Lee asked, trying to look innocent.

"Does this sudden idea of letting me have the kids for one night have anything to do with the fact that your son turned six-weeks old today?" the older Adama inquired. "Come on, Lee. Don't you think I know how long the abstinence period is for a woman after she gives birth?"

Lee gulped. Did his father know _everything_?! "Maybe," he murmured, receiving a glare from his father. "Okay, you're right. Will you keep them or not?"

"You could have just asked that right away," Bill told him. "I'll take care of them for tonight. Maybe I'll even invite Laura for dinner. She's been asking when she could spend some time with the kids."

Lee smiled at that. About a month ago, Kacey had accidentally called Roslin 'Grandma'. As nobody had bothered to correct the little girl, from that they on President Laura Roslin had simply become 'Grandma' to Kacey. Also, people were starting to notice that she and Admiral Adama were spending a lot of time together, which made people wonder if the two leaders of the fleet would eventually become a couple.

"Thanks, Dad," Lee said. "I'll bring them in a couple of hours, okay?"

"Sure," the Old Man agreed before grabbind the phone. "Petty Officer Natasi, please call President Roslin in Colonial One for me…okay, I'll wait." He looked up and noticed his son still standing in there. "Shouldn't you be making plans for your night, Lee?"

"Oh, yeah. I'll see you later, then," he said as he turned around and left, closing the hatch behind him.

The Admiral heard Roslin's voice in the phone. "I was wondering if you were interested in coming by tonight, Laura. Lee's letting the kids stay here for the night… Is 1900 good for you? You could have dinner here. Okay, see you then."

He hung up the phone, smiling at himself. _Take that stupid smile out of your face, Adama! _He ordered himself mentally

--

"I don't know, Lee," Kara told her husband as she bathed the baby. "We should have discussed this together. I'm not sure I'm comfortable with being away from Zak for the night; he's not even two months old!"

Lee had just informed Kara about the kids' sleeping arrangements and she was a little unsure about that.

"Kara, Zak will be fine. Dad might not be exactly around while I grew up, but my Mom surely left me alone with him from time to time when I was a baby. He'll take care of Zak and Kacey. They'll have a good time together," Lee told her while he wrapped his son with a towel right after Kara had lifted him from the tub.

"Laura will be there as well," Kara murmured, trying to convince herself that the kids would be fine.

"Daddy can't frak Mommy properly with you in the room," Lee told Zak in a baby voice.

He could swear he saw his son giving one of Kara's what-the-frak-are-you-saying looks.

She kneeled next to the rack where Lee had put their son, who was currently being dressed. "You think you'll be fine with grandpa, Baby?"

Zak was too busy putting his little fingers in his mouth to answer.

"Look, I spent time alone with Dad and I'm still in one piece," Lee told her.

"One hell of a piece. Fine, you win," she gave up.

"That's my girl," Lee said, kissing her softly. "So, what do you say I go get Kacey from daycare while you put their things for the night in a sac?"

Kara lifted Zak, now fully dressed, from the bed and held him close to her chest. "_We_ will get Kacey. You can act like a pretty little househusband and take care of the sac. Gods know I'm acting like a housewife these days."

"Sick of being grounded, hum?" he asked her. "I may have good news for you."

Kara's eyes lit up immediately. "Tell me Cottle cleared me!"

"Weren't you going to get Kacey?" Lee said, trying to torture a bit more.

"Eight months, Lee. Eight months without sitting in a viper cockpit," she insisted.

"Tomorrow morning. Life station," Lee told her. "That's all I have to say. Then, it's up to Cottle."

"Finally!" she said. She looked at little Zak, resting in her arms. "You heard that, Baby? Mummy's getting her wings back."

"Weren't you going to get Kacey?" Lee asked her.

"I'm going, don't worry. Let me just celebrate a bit" she said.

"Save the celebrations for tonight," he told her.

--

A couple of hours later, Lee and Kara were in the Admiral's quarters. Kacey was entertained showing her Teddy Bear to her baby brother.

"Make sure Kacey does not eat sugar or putting her to sleep will be a pain in the ass," Kara warned her father-in-law. "And give Zak his vitamins after you feed him."

The admiral was standing there listening. For the past 15 minutes, his son and daughter-in-law had been giving him a list of the things he should and shouldn't do with the kids. "I know Ka…" he started.

"And don't forget to give Zak his blanket, 'cause he gets cranky when he doesn't have it," Lee interrupted his father.

"Okay! Anything else I should know?"

"Burp the baby! For frak's sake don't put him in bed without burping him!" Starbuck continued.

When Laura Roslin entered the room, she found that amusing scene. Two anxious parents dealing with their first night away from their baby.

"Calm down," she told them. "The kids will be fine."

"Call us if anything happens. Even if Zak or Kacey sneeze," Kara said.

"That's enough!" Adama said. "You two go say goodbye to your kids and get out of my quarters. That's an order."

They gulped. Yep, they just managed to piss the Old Man off. Both Lee and Kara approached their children. She kissed Kacey in the cheek.

"Look after your baby brother, little soldier. And be good for grandpa," Lee told her.

Kacey nodded. "'Kay Daddy!"

"If you think there's anything wrong, get the phone and ask to call us, okay Honey?" Starbuck instructed her daughter.

"Out now!" the Admiral growled.

They kissed the kids good bye and quickly ran away from the room.

"_Kara, Zak will be fine_," she said when they reached their cabin, imitating her husband's tone. "What a hypocrite! You were just as anxious as I was!"

"I was trying to ensure you!" he told her.

"You should have ensured yourself!"

"Kara?" he asked.

"Hum?"

"Will you shut up already?" With that, he cupped her face and kissed her passionately.

She wrapped her arms around his neck and kissed him back .They walked to the room, never parting their lips.

"Let's check if we have everything we need," he murmured against her lips. "Contraceptive shots?"

"Check," she confirmed, capturing his lips again.

"You and me?" he asked, slipping his hands inside her shirt in order to touch her skin

Kara used her hands to cup his ass. "Double check."

"No clothes at all?"

"Give us a minute," she told him, already lifting his tanks.

--

Meanwhile in Joe's bar, Sam and Jane were sitting in one of the tables together, like they did every night for the past month and a half. They had been there for each other when everything was difficult, which cause them to become very good friends.

"Let's play a game," he suggested. "You know, as a way to get to know each other better."

"We'll hardly find out anything new about each other, Sam," she said. "In these chats we've been having lately we basically told each other everything."

"Don't underestimate this game, Janie. Do you know how the game 'I never' works?"

"We say 'I never' and then finish the sentence with a statement about ourselves. If any of the players did it they must drink. That's old school, Sam. Even toasters like me know that one," she told him.

"So, wanna play?" he asked.

"Okay."

"You start," he said.

"I never…played pyramid…" she started.

"Oh, come on! I was a pyramid player, you already know that!"

"Let me finish!" she said. "I never played pyramid naked and was photographed doing that."

He drank. "How the frak did you know that!?"

"It filled Caprica's newspapers for like a week. 'C-Buccs star Samuel T. Anders caught playing Pyramid in his birthday suit'. I loved the photo illustrating the article. Nice ass, by the way."

"Thanks but let me inform you that it was a bet! Barolay's fault" he said. "But that was low, Jane, really low."

"Fine, I'll be gentler next time," she told him.

"Alright. I never…took part in a threesome."

This time it was Jane who drank.

He raised his eyebrows. "Frak me! I was just messing with you! You've been in threesome?"

"Yep," she confirmed. "I prefer not to talk about it."

"Okay, your turn."

"I never…knew how to ride a bike," she declared.

Neither of them drank.

"What? Sam Anders, Pyramid superstar never knew how to ride a bike?" she inquired, laughing.

"Don't tell anyone," he said. "I never…frakked in a public place."

He drank, meaning he had lied. She didn't.

"Do emergency staircases count?" she asked.

"Yep."

She drank.

"Only once. Nothing's more comfortable than a bed," she declared. "What was your public place?"

"A library. In the self-help books corridor."

"How ironic. I never…kissed a guy," she lied, taking drink.

He laughed. "Trying to get dirties on me, hum?" Sam asked. "I never had a pet."

Neither of them drank.

"Not even a goldfish?" she asked, surprised.

"My mom was not a fan of animals," he said.

"I never…was in love," she stated, drinking from her glass right away.

He drank as well, looking solemn. She had hit a nerve

Jane cursed herself for saying that. She had ruined the game. "Sam, I'm…"

"It's okay," he said. "We've been sincere with each other since day one. I know you didn't mean anything bad by saying that."

They were silent for a minute. "This was really nice but I need to go. I have an appointment with Cottle first thing in the morning."

"Okay," he agreed. "See you tomorrow then."

She walked to the bar's door and waved at him before leaving.

He sighed. "I never thought I'd fall for a cylon," he murmured for himself as he got up and returned to his bunkroom. He didn't drink after saying that.

--

Kara was lying against her husband's chest exhausted. She had never frakked a god, but she was sure that experience would not be half as good as making love to Lee. His callsign was more than fitting.

"That was good," Lee said. "Really good."

"Hum, hum," was all Kara managed to say. She had this delirious feeling that made her act like she was high. Her eyes were almost closed. It felt good being snuggled like that against his chest.

He smiled at his wife's apparent inability to form full sentences. "You seemed to be enjoying yourself."

She opened one eye and looked at him, finding him smiling at her.

"I didn't want to scratch your ego," she murmured. "It seemed kind of important to you."

"Shut up."

"I love you," she told him.

"I love you too," he murmured. "I dare you to a second round."

She reached for his lips and kissed him. "You know I can't ever resist a dare."

**A/N: First of all, I've just noticed that the anonymous reviews were disabled in my profile, which did not allow my anonymous readers to review. From now on, anonymous reviews are back on. Don't forget to send your feedback, anonymous or not. Review! I'd like to reach the 250 reviews this chapter so halp me up.**


	29. The Eye of the Storm pt 1

When Starbuck woke up, the room was dark. She could hear the water in the shower, which explained Lee's absence from the bunk. During the whole night, they barely managed to keep their hands away from each other for more than ten minutes. The alarm clock by her side indicated that she had slept for 15 minutes. That was a record.

Kara had never frakked all night long. She didn't believe it was physically possible. Nevertheless, last night had pretty much proved her wrong. It was possible, just not wise. Her muscles protested when she sat in the rack. She had been working out every day since Zak became two weeks old in order to get back in her usual shape. Still, last night had completely blown her.

As she literally had to crawl out of her bunk, she thanked the gods for the fact that Lee was busy showering. He would surely make fun of her because of that…and then he'd jump on her again. As much as she was willing to do that again, another round would kill her. They were lucky to have survived last night. She quickly dressed a tank top and one pair of Lee's old boxers so the sight of her naked body would not give him any ideas when he left the shower.

She fell back on the rack only to be awake by Lee's kisses minutes later.

"Good Morning, Sunshine," he greeted her, smiling widely.

"Is it morning? Cause usually mornings happen after a night of sleep," she mumbled sleepilly. He kissed her neck. "Don't even think of it, you horny bastard! I'm going to the shower…alone." She got up and walked to the bathroom.

"At least give me a goodbye kiss before I leave to the Hangar Deck," he pleaded.

She opened the bathroom door and gave him a quick peck on the lips, closing the door again. He stood there looking at the door. "Just that?"

"I don't trust myself to keep control if I give you a better kiss," she stated from inside the bathroom.

He was pleased with himself for having such an effect in her. "Okay. Don't forget your appointment in the life station. Love you."

"Love you too," she replied.

--

Half an hour later, Kara was entering the sickbay. The shower had done its work by waking her up a bit more. At least she could walk in straight line…

Jane was sitting in one of the chairs in the sickbay, waiting for Cottle to wake her up.

"Hey, what are you doing here?" Kara asked her.

"Sonogram," Jane said. "What about you?"

"I'm trying to get my wings back," she replied. "How are you dealing with this whole thing? Did you change your mind about not telling Mr. Genius about his offspring?"

"I'm still trying to figure out what I'll do but of one thing I'm sure. I don't want Gaius close to the baby. I'm done with him. He's selfish, egocentric and I don't trust him. He'd only hurt us over and over again. Apart from the president and the Admiral, only you, Sharon and Sam know who the real father is. Let's keep it that way."

"If you want my opinion, I'd do the right thing in your situation," Kara stated. "Now, where's that jackass who calls himself a doctor?"

"According to Ishay, he's checking on the recovery patients," she said. "Forget it, there he is."

The doctor was walking in their direction with his usual cigarette hanging out of his mouth. "Captain Thrace, come with me. You can go inside and get ready for the sonogram, Miss Natasi."

Kara followed the doctor to his office.

"So, am I cleared?" she asked him.

"Sit," he told her.

She did as he commanded, too tired to complain.

"The kid's been keeping you awake?" he asked her.

"No, Doc," she answered.

"Then why the frak do you look like you didn't sleep for the whole night?"

"Because I didn't. By choice," she replied. "Can I please have my wings back?"

He grumbled something about an irresponsible frak-head. "Yeah, you can. Just make sure you hit the rack every night to _sleep_. You're needed alert, not acting like a walking Zombie. Now, go get some hours of sleep. I'll let the CAG know you're back in service in 4 hours. Get lost."

"Yes, sir," she said, turning around and gladly leaving the sickbay.

Before going back to her quarters, she went to Lee's office in order to get Zak. Her husband was looking after him after she went to get him from the Admiral earlier.

"Well, don't you look like crap, Starbuck?" Helo teased her when he and Sharon crossed paths with her.

"Frak me, Helo," Kara said, cranky.

"Oh, I bet the CAG already took care of that last night," Sharon said. "What's with the face? Shouldn't you be exhibiting a silly smile right now?"

"Why don't you two go make Hera a little brother instead of tormenting me?" she asked them.

"Okay… I see you're not in a playing mood today," Helo murmured. "We'll leave you alone. You're not a good victim when you're cranky."

They entered another room and she resumed walking to meet Lee.

She found him filling paperwork in his desk with Zak's baby carrier right on top of it.

"Hey, did Cottle clear you?" he asked.

"Yeah," she confirmed, approaching him to give him a quick kiss. She turned to her son, entertaining himself by chewing his hands. "Hi, Baby, did you miss Mommy?"

"According to Dad, this one did not want to sleep. He cried and cried. Laura even decided to stay for the night," Lee told her.

"Oh, so you decided to be loud last night, didn't you, Little Guy?" she asked the baby. "I'm going back to our quarters in order to sleep a few hours. Cottle's orders," Kara told her husband.

"Leave the baby here, Kara," Lee told her. "You won't be able to sleep much if he's there."

"But you have work to do, Lee," she replied.

"I'm stuck with paperwork this morning. I can watch him while I do it," he assured her. "Plus when I'm done with him, I'll take a break and sleep as well. I'll book us for CAP in about 5 hours, okay?"

"Us?"

"Yeah, I'll be your wingman," Lee told her.

"Okay," she agreed and returned to her quarters.

--

Hours later, Kara was in the Hangar Deck wearing her flight suit. Finally she was going to fly again. With Lee. Starbuck and Apollo would fly together again.

They had just left the baby in the daycare's nursery. It had broken her heart leaving him there crying, but it was either that or taking him to the cockpit.

She missed flying so much. As she walked to her viper, her adored viper, the Chief and Cally intercepted her.

"Er…Captain. I'm afraid you won't be able to fly your viper today," he informed her.

"Why the frak not?" she asked.

"We noticed a fuel leak. We're working on it, don't worry. The thing is, you'll have to borrow another one. I think the one that used to belong to Seelix is available," Tyrol told her.

"Great," she said sarcastically and distractedly fixed her hair in a ponytail.

"What's wrong?" Lee asked her, coming from behind her.

"The chief says I have to fly Seelix's viper. Mine is having problems," she grumbled.

"Don't complain. At least you'll be able to fly," the CAG told her.

Minutes later, she was settled in the viper, finally flying.

"_Starbuck, Apollo. How does it feel to be flying again?"_ Lee asked through the communications.

"Fan-frakking-tastic," she replied.

The Fleet was orbiting a cloudy gas giant planet as they refueled various ships. Things were quiet out there, except for the long line of ships waiting to be refueled. They were not flying in the dark space, there was light, loads of it. They were surrounded by blue sky and white clouds.

They made a few spins and races together like in the old times. It was nice to be out there again.

Suddenly, Kara started to lose control of her viper. It seemed like it was being pushed to the clouds. She tried to pull back but nothing would work. The frakking thing was alive and flying by itself.

"_Starbuck, where the frak are you going?!"_ Lee asked.

"Apollo, something's wrong with my viper. I can't control it!" she said.

As she was pushed to the clouds, Kara saw something she was not ready for. There was a storm system. But not just any storm system. It looked just like that pattern she has been drawing since she was a kid. Circular, yellow outside, then red and finally blue in the center. The Mandala.

She was being pushed for inside the storm.

"_Starbuck? Do you copy?"_ Apollo shouted through the wireless.

"Yes, Apollo. I am being pushed to a storm system," she informed him. "I can't control the frakking thing."

Things were getting dangerous. She already inside the storm, getting too close to the planet. She knew the viper would not handle the pressure of such a gigantic planet. If that viper didn't start obeying in the next minute, she would die. Then, something hit her. The Mandala. The destiny. What if that was her destiny? There was no explanation for the way the stupid bird was acting. What if it was a higher force playing her like she was a pawn in a chess table?

She was terrified. Kara Thrace usually managed to deal things well in extreme situations, but this time she was panicking. The viper would not work. Either it was her destiny or not, she couldn't die like that. Lee, Kacey, Zak. She could not leave them. The viper was almost in the bottom of the storm system. Closer and closer to the planet.

"_Starbuck, eject the damn bird. I'll __ask for a raptor to get you,"_ Lee's voice sounded through the wireless.

"Okay," she agreed.

Kara tried to reach for the ejection lever but it was stuck. _The viper is trying to kill me_, she thought. She could the thunders. Everything around her was dark now. It was a frakking horror movie!

"It's stuck!" she yelled through the comms. Her heart was beating so fast that her throat hurt.

In his own viper, Lee was trying to reach the storm she had mentioned. He had alerted the CIC about the situation and they were also trying to figure out what was going on. "What's wrong with the damn viper?!" Lee asked himself. He could not lose her. He'd die inside. And the kids. How could he tell them their mommy was gone? Kacey would be heartbroken and Zak…he would not even remember how his mother looked like.

"Kara, hold in there!" he told her. "Don't you die on me."

"_I'm trying, Lee!"_ she replied.

He finally arrived to the storm system. It was massive but at the same time beautiful. It reminded of The Eye of Jupiter. He couldn't see Kara in there or spot her on DRADIS. With all the radiation from the planet, it looked like a soup.

Kara prayed the gods for mercy. She rarely prayed for herself but it seemed a good idea right now.

From outside the storm, Lee tried to locate his wife inside. "Starbuck, do you copy?" No answer. "Kara!"

**A/N: For those who are wondering, the end is inspired in the episode _Maelstrom_, however with some changes. This is very important to the what will happen in the future. This is a two-part chapter so if you are really, really nice and I reach the 260 reviews 'till tomorrow, I may post part 2 then. Review!**


	30. The Eye of the Storm pt 2

The viper was falling faster and faster until, all of a sudden, it stopped. It was not inside the storm system anymore; it was right behind it, dangerously close to the planet. Once again, Kara tried to turn away but this time the bird obeyed.

"Apollo," she called through the wireless. "Apollo?" No answer. He probably couldn't hear her. There was a frakking maelstrom between them. No, there had been a maelstrom between them because now it seemed to be disappearing.

"This gets weirder by the second," she murmured, re-entering the fading storm.

The colors were gone. She was surrounded by simple translucent grey clods instead of the blue ones she has seen while she was being pushed inside. _What the frak did just happen?_ Kara thought. The viper had been pushed inside a storm by an unexplainable force and she had survived. Something told her that was part of the destiny Leoben had mentioned.

The thunders that had haunted her fall were not there anymore and the storm seemed to be less dark. She could literally see the light in the end of the tunnel.

"Apollo, this is Starbuck. Do you copy?" Kara tried again.

"_Kara? Thank gods you're okay. What happened?" _he asked in relieved tone.

"I don't know. When I reached the other end of the storm the viper started to respond again and I managed to turn around," she said. "Did you see how that thing looked like? The colors…"

"_It looked similar to The Eye of Jupiter,"_ he finished. He could finally see her leaving the storm that looked like a large grey cloud now. _"Let's go back to Galactica."_

"Yeah," she agreed. She could still feel her hands shaking. That scare had taken like 20 years of her life.

She had never felt so relieved for being back on Galactica. Not even when he had crashed in that red moon.

In the moment she exited the cockpit, she ran to Lee's arms and, for the first time, she cried in front of all the deck. She stood around five minutes in that position, never letting go of her husband.

"I thought I was gonna die," she murmured in his ear. "I thought I'd never see you, Kacey and Zak again."

"Shh, you're okay," he assured her, brushing her hair softly.

All the pilots and deckhands were watching that, trying to understand what had happened out there. Eventually, both the Admiral and the XO appeared in the deck as well to see the reunion with their own eyes.

Kara finally took one step back and cleaned the tears in her eyes. "Chief!" she called. Tyrol immediately approached her. "I want every inch of that viper checked. Every single bit of it."

"Yes, sir," he immediately agreed. If there was anything wrong with that viper, he'd do all he could to find it.

"Don't let that bird go in the air until we figure this entire thing out, Chief," the Old Man ordered, approaching his son and daughter-in-law.

Starbuck took a deep breath. "I need to get out of here," she murmured to Lee and the Admiral. "I need to see my babies."

"Let's go to my quarters," Adama suggested and turned to Tigh. "Colonel, do you mind getting my grandchildren from daycare? I'll let them know you're allowed to bring them."

"Yeah, I'll do it," he agreed.

"Chief, send us the flying records as soon as you can," Lee asked Tyrol, who nodded and left to take care of the viper.

"Can you tell us what happened?" the Old Man asked Kara.

"I can tell you my theories," she told him. "I'm not sure what happened there as well."

"Okay, let's go," Lee told her. He turned to the pilots standing there. "Kat, take over for me, will you?"

"Sure, Major," she agreed. And started to instruct the pilots for next CAP.

--

One hour later, they were all settled in the Admiral's quarters. Kara was in the sofa with Kacey snuggled in her lap, taking a nap and Zak was wide awake in his baby carrier. They were not even slightly aware of what their mother had just gone though.

"Let me put her in Dad's bed," Lee said, taking Kacey of her mother's lap.

Hoshi and Tigh were analyzing the flying records and the President had arrived minutes earlier, after hearing what had happened.

"Can you tell us what happened?" Laura asked her.

She nodded. "I was flying with Lee when the viper stopped obeying me. It was like it was being attracted somewhere else," she started. Lee sat back by her side and gave her his hand while she explained. "Then, I saw it. I huge storm system. But there was something weird in it. It looked just like a Mandala: the shape, the colors…"

"You mean like The Eye of Jupiter?" Laura asked.

"Yeah, it looked just like it," Lee confirmed. "I saw it with my own eyes."

"What happened in there?" Adama asked.

Tears were dropping from her eyes as she remembered these moments. Lee grasped her hand, letting her know he was there for her. It was so unlike her to cry like that. "I tried to turn around but that thing was pulling me inside. The viper would not work. I felt like I was free-falling. Lee was asking me to eject but it didn't work either. At a certain point, the comms were out. Then, when I reached the end of it, the viper started working again and the maelstrom started disappearing. So, I re-entered it and found Lee right outside of it. After that we returned to Galactica."

"You mentioned you had theories…" the Admiral said.

"Leoben once said I had a destiny that was already written," she told them. "All of this, the Mandala shaped storm that faded right after I passed through it, this doesn't seem a coincidence. I've been drawing that pattern all my life!"

"You think that was part of your destiny?" Lee asked her.

"I don't know, Lee. The only thing I do know is that I can't explain what the frak happened out there. I mean, that blasted thing faded right after I passed it, like it was waiting for me. This is totally insane!"

"You can repeat that," Laura said. "But so was the legend of The Eye of Jupiter and it existed."

There was a knock in the hatch and Saul Tigh entered with a file in his hands, which he gave to the Old Man.

"These are some shoots from the video," he explained. "They are frakking unbelievable. Also, according to the records, the viper was not following Starbuck's commands. She was trying to pull back but it was going in the opposite direction."

"See? Do the records show any possible explanation for that?" Kara asked.

"Nothing," Tigh said.

She rested her face in her hands and took a deep breath. The gods had been frakking with her. That was the only explanation.

Adama looked at the picture of the gigantic Mandala along with the president. They completely shocked. That had to be the sign of something.

"Maybe you should take a few more days off," Adama suggested to Kara.

"No," she replied. "I can do it. We're jumping out of this system in a few hours. If whatever did that thing thinks that it will make me stop flying, it is very wrong."

"At least go home for the rest of the day," the Old Man insisted. "You too, Lee. Captain Katraine can handle things for you. I'll have someone checking the storm coordinates, to see if there's any clue in there."

"Yeah, that's a good idea," Lee agreed. "Come on, Kara. Let's take the kids and go."

She nodded. She might have the feeling that would not happen again but she was done for the day.

--

After being given the coordinates by the Admiral, a raptor, pilot by Helo and Athena, and a viper, Sam, went to check the storm system, or at least where it used to be.

"Helo, this is Thunderclap. Are you sure it is here?" Sam asked through the comms.

_"These are the coordinates that we were given,"_ Helo replied. _"The computer still registers elements consistent with a storm. It is here."_

"Well, this does not look even a bit like the photos the admiral showed us," Sam replied.

_"I don't see anything that could have caused Kara to be pulled like that. It couldn't be gravity, she was not close enough to the planet," _Athena stated.

"I wonder if this thing was cylon related," he tried.

_"Not even cylons are advanced enough to create a storm that size,"_ she said. _"At least not that I am aware of."_

_"The question is: Why wasn't Apollo pushed too? He was there as well,"_ Helo stated. _"And the way that thing looked…it was not natural."_

"These photos really freaked me out," Sam agreed.

_"I'm going to get closer so we can take some measurements,"_ Athena said.

--

Lee and Kara were facing each other in the rack. They had been lying there silently since they had arrived just feeling each other's presence.

"What would have you done if I didn't manage to get out of there myself?" she asked him, breaking the hour-long silence.

"I'd have dived there and get you myself," he stated.

"You shouldn't, Lee. What about the kids? They'd have to live without both their parents if you died," she said.

"How could I ever face them if I hadn't done all I could to save you?" he asked, caressing her face with his hand.

"It wouldn't be your fault," she assured him. "What happened out there was beyond nature. Not even I that was inside of the viper could control it."

"You really believe that was the destiny that Leoben mentioned?"

"I want to believe it. If it is, it means that I'm not meant to get killed while accomplishing it," she declared. "I also have another theory."

"What?"

"The viper could have been jinxed by Seelix," she joked, returning to her old self, which was a good thing.

"Right, that makes even more sense," he told her, sarcastically.

"I don't care if it makes sense or not. This was so the last time I borrowed someone else's viper. Let's just include this adventure in my long list of near-death experiences," she said.

**A/N: No, my people. I did not kill Starbuck. Now, send me feedback please. Review!**


	31. Colonial Day Redux

Four and a half months after the maelstrom incident, like it was called these days, people still did not know what exactly had caused that whole thing to happen. There was no sign of hacking or sabotage. Since then, the Viper that Starbuck had flied during the incident was not used and just sat on the hangar deck, being occasionally looked at to try to reveal its secrets.

Kara seemed to have recovered from the incident quite well and was back in the active. Lee had become her permanent wingman, occasionally switching with Kat or Hotdog. In their first wedding anniversary, the Old man had given Lee and Kara new quarters. The Admiral had the former Public Relations section, which had been transferred for the Rising Star, transformed into a family cabin. It had two small rooms (that used to be offices), a bathroom and a main room. Helo and Athena had moved to the Adamas' old quarters.

Colonial Day was the date picked to the inauguration of the ship _Majestic_. Like the destroyed _Cloud Nine_, the _Majestic_ was designed to mimic the environment of a habitable planet with fake sunshine, a holographic sky and several nature elements. When the holocaust occurred, the ship, which was still being finished at that time, was damaged and its pressurization was unstable, meaning it was dangerous to harbor civilians in there. Nobody bothered to fix it until Roslin demanded it after the exodus from New Caprica _"The opportunity of living in an actual planet was robbed to all the people in the fleet, they need a chance to feel the sunshine in their skin, even if it is fake", _she had stated.

Like most of the people in Galactica, Starbuck and Apollo were getting ready to the celebrations that the _Majestic_ would harbor that night. Lee was sitting in their rack wearing his dress uniform while Kara was still getting ready in the bathroom. He could not wait to see whatever she was wearing.

"Come on, Kara," he pleaded. "Let me see!"

"Wait a damn minute," she called from the bathroom. It was the third time he begged her to get out.

Like she had promised, a minute later Kara opened the door to reveal herself. Lee was sure he had drooled. She had a strapless black dress that showed every single curve. Her hair was loose and curly. She had cut it recently and it was now shoulder length.

"Like what you see?" she asked seductively.

He nodded silently, still staring at her. Frak, she was always beautiful to him, even if she was covered with oil and wearing shaggy clothes. But when Kara dressed up, it was worth the memory. "Where did you get that dress?"

"I asked Laura for help," she told him. "This is my way of reminding people that, despite being a badass, I'm still a chick."

"And what chick…" he murmured.

Kara smiled. She remembered the first time he had looked at her with that admiration. It had been exactly four years ago. She had dressed up just for him, to prove him she could be feminine if she wanted to.

_**Four years before – Colonial Day**_

_Kara entered the bunkroom. She__ had just returned from Cloud Nine after the election of Gaius Baltar as the vice president of the colonies. _

_Threwing the bag she had been carrying to her bunk, she proceeded to search in her locker for clean underwear. Everyone was in still in Cloud Nine, so it was her chance to take a long calm shower._

_She had spent one hour searching through all the boutiques in Cloud Nine for the perfect outfit in order to dress up that night. For Lee. Starbuck would show him she could look like a woman if she wanted._

_After a relaxing shower, she returned to the bunkroom and took the dress out of the bag. It was satin blue. Kara had picked it because it reminded her of his eyes. She wanted to look good for him, just for him. _

_Hours later, there she was in the bar, waiting for him to see her. Would he drool? Would he laugh? Would he simply compliment her?_

_Then there he was, looking at her with a stupid surprised expression in his face._

"_So…" he started nervously. "That bum knee of yours if looking pretty good… And the other one is not too bad either."_

_Admiring her knees... he was acting like an idiot._

"_Really? If you want to ask me to dance, just ask," she told him. _

_He smiled and approached her. "Can we dance?"_

_She gave him her hand. "Me in a dress is a once in a lifetime opportunity."_

**Present time**

Four years later, her statement had been proved being wrong. There she was again dressed up, looking more beautiful than ever in his eyes.

"Where are the kids?" she asked.

"Playing in the sitting room," Lee replied. He got up and took her hand, kissing it. "Will you give me the honor of being my date for tonight's party, Mrs. Adama?"

"The honor is mine, Mr. Adama," she told him, smiling.

He opened the room's door and indicated her to go first.

Kacey was playing peek-a-boo with her baby brother, who was sitting in the floor. Zak squealed in delight and smiled at his big sister. The boy was getting cuter by the day. At six-months old, little Zakary Thrace adama had half the battlestar wrapped around his little finger, including the admiral and (secretly) the XO. Jane once mentioned he looked like the product of a eugenic experience.

Kacey was wearing a blue sundress and had braids in her hair. She turned when heard Kara and Lee entering the room. "Mommy, you pwetty," she said, excitedly.

"Thanks, Honey. You're also very pretty yourself," Kara told the little girl. She looked at her son, who was still giggling. "Well, don't you look cute, Mr. Zak?"

The baby let out a squeal and Lee picked him up from the floor.

"Do you have everything we need?" he asked Kara. They were all staying in the _Majestic_ after the party in order to enjoy the three days off they were given. Roslin and the Old Man, who would stay in connected suites, would be in charge of Kacey and Zak for that night so their parents could do whatever they wanted.

"Yep," she confirmed. "Everything. Come on. Sharon, Helo and Jane must be waiting for us so we can board the shuttle."

--

Everyone was in a good mood during the celebrations.

Helo was trying to make fancy moves in the dance floor as Sharon laughed her guts out at his frustrated attempts. At the same time, the Admiral was sitting by one of the tables, right next to Roslin, watching Kacey and Hera playing a few feet away. Zak was in is 'grandma's' lap as she fed him algae soup.

Kara was dancing glued to Lee. In the moment she had entered the room, several people gasped. She had heard Hotdog say something like "_That must be Starbuck's feminine twin"_, which earned him a slap from his (unofficial) girlfriend, Kat, who didn't like the fact that he was admiring her very own flying rival.

Jane, on the other hand, was distractedly watching the view from the balcony. The _Majestic_ looked magnificent, even at night. She could see fountains everywhere, the fake sky was covered with stars and the lights made everything look even more beautiful.

"Six?" she heard the last person she wanted to see ask. She slowly turned around to see Gaius Baltar looking at her with a stupid surprised face.

"It's Jane now, Gaius," she replied, trying to keep her voice steady. "I told you that back in Caprica, but you didn't care enough to remember. I thought you were celebrating colonial day in your harem. Isn't it dangerous for you to be outside with all the Baltar-hatters."

He did not even register what she was saying as he was too busy staring at her pregnant stomach.

"What?" she asked. She knew he had already noticed. He'd do the math; he'd know he was the father.

"You're pregnant," he stated.

"I know I am," she said, trying to sound indifferent. His fake accent was starting to annoy her.

He gulped. "Is it…" he started.

"Janie!" someone called. It was Sam. She thanked God (or the gods, she didn't know it anymore) for that. He was walking in her direction with his uniform dressed. "I'm sorry I'm late," he apologized when he reached her. Then, he did something she was definitely not expecting. He kissed her right in the mouth. His lips were warm, tender. After the initial shock, she felt like she could lose herself in that kiss. Their lips parted, seconds later.

"Oh, Doctor Baltar. I didn't see you in there. I don't think we have met personally. My name is Samuel Anders," he told Baltar.

The scientist's eyes were wide open, still in shock from the scene he had just witnessed. "It's…a pleasure to meet you, Mr. Anders. I didn't know…Jane was involved with someone. Much less carrying a child."

"Yeah, it was kind of unexpected," Sam told him. "But we are very happy with that. I can't even believe I am going to be a dad and Jane's already six months along."

Jane's breath had just caught in her throat. Did Sam say what she thought he did? Did he say he was her baby's father?

"Oh, Congratulations then," Baltar wished them. "It was good to see you S… I mean, Jane." He looked relieved when he turned away from them.

When she was sure Gaius was definitely gone, Jane turned to Sam. Her feelings were all mixed because of that kiss but she was sure of one thing. He had just done her a monumental favor. She threw her arms around him and they hugged each other.

"Thank you, thank you, thank you," she said. "I can't thank you enough for this, Sam."

"It's okay, Janie. You seemed like you needed some help. That's what friends are for," he told her. _Friends…_ he thought. All these months had passed since he realized what he really felt for her and he still didn't have the guts to confess it to her. _Chicken_, he called himself.

"But you told him I'm six months along, Sam. I'm actually seven," she stated.

"I know you are. But he'd do the math if I told him the truth. This way he'll imagine the kid was conceived in a night of weakness after Seelix left me," he explained.

She kissed his cheek and he smiled. "Thank you so much, Sam. Really."

"It's alright. I'll go get us some drinks. Soda for you?" he asked.

"Yeah."

She touched her lips; they were still warm from the kiss. It had been so good… The baby was kicking in her stomach, probably because her heart was beating so fast. It hit her: she was falling in love with him. But they couldn't be together. Sam was a human. She'd be a burden for him, a cause of shame. Not to mention that she was carrying another man's child and he probably saw her as nothing more than a friend.

Little did she know…

--

About one hour after the Admiral and the president had excused themselves from the party in order to take the kids to bed, Lee and Kara were taking a walk through the ship's gardens.

"This looks so authentic…" Kara murmured as they step into the lawn surrounding one of the fountains and sat in there.

"Yeah, pretty nice," he agreed.

Kara lay in her back, feeling the freshness of the lawn touch her skin. Lee did the same. They were there in silence for a few minutes just looking at the fake sky above them.

"Lee, do you remember the party to celebrate colonial day four years ago?" she asked her husband, turning her head to him.

"When you showed up in that blue dress and I complimented your knees 'cause I was too nervous to ask you to dance?" he replied with a smirk.

"Yeah, that one," she said, smirking back. "I got you all tongue tied."

"You looked amazing," he stated.

She smiled at him and sighed. "Remember what I did after the party?"

He tensed. How could he not remember that. It had earned them a monumental fight in the following day. "What's the point of that question, Kara?"

"Just answer me, Lee," she insisted.

He waited a few seconds before he answered. "You slept with Baltar… I can't believe that, of all people, you picked him that night."

"I didn't pick him that night, Lee. I picked you," she told him, trying to reach the point before they started a fight. "I thought that freak was you."

He laughed in disbelief. "Are you joking? Does Baltar look slightly like me?"

"Lee, believe me, I was so drunk that everyone looked like you. Even Tigh," she stated. "The point of this conversation is that that night, I wanted you. I even dressed up for you. I called your name while I was frakking him, Lee."

"You did what?!" he asked in astonishment.

"I called your name, Lee. It stabbed his ego pretty deeply."

He looked surprised. "Why are you telling me this now?"

"I dunno. It's just that here we are again; exactly four years later, all dressed up in a luxury ship celebrating Colonial Day. And the situation may look the same, but this time I'm sure that the Lee Adama I'm talking to is actually the real one and I was hoping tonight I'd frak the right guy," she stated.

"How do you know I'm the real Lee?" he asked her, smirking again. He was not mad, he was kind of happy that he was the one she had chosen that night and proud that it was his name she had called.

"For starters, I'm sober this time," she told him. "But maybe you're right. I think I may have to strip you just to make sure. Why don't you follow me to the room?"

"My pleasure."

**A/N: I am kind of disapointed. I only received six reviews last chapter even though I spared Starbuck. But anyway, I hope you liked this chapter. I have to announce that unfortuatelly _I will not be able to update in the next week and a half as I am going to be busy traveling, which means I will have no internet connection. I'm really sorry, guys, but consideer this my vacations. I will try to have another chapter posted by July 8th. It is almost impossible to do it sooner._ I'd like to have some feedback to welcome me back. Review!**


	32. Into Me Like a Bullet

**A/N 1: So, I kind of had a small accident in my vacations and sprained my ankle. Because of that, I returned a few days earlier and here is the chapter.**

One month had passed since Colonial Day and during that time the cylons did not show any sign of still being out there.

Starbuck was flying three-hour long CAP with Hotdog as her wingman.

"_Gods, this is so boring. I should have brought a book or something to keep me occupied,"_ Hotdog stated.

"If you want to keep yourself occupied, we can talk," Starbuck told him. "So tell me, Hotdog, when will you and Kat stop trying to pretend that nobody knows you're doing it like bunnies?"

"_I don't have any idea what you're talking about, Captain,"_ he replied.

"Really, then you should have your brain checked 'cause just yesterday Sam told me he ran into the two of you in a very compromising position," she declared. Kara could imagine her former nugget's embarrassment in his cockpit. It didn't even bother her that that conversation was being heard by the whole CIC. "Don't think too much of an explanation, Hotdog. You may fill the whole helmet with smoke coming from your ears and that would make it hard to breathe."

"_Why am I always thee vict…" _Before Hotdog could finish his sentence, both the viper's instruments board was filled with beeping.

"Galactica, DRADIS contact," Starbuck announced, looking around trying to take a glimpse of the enemy.

"_Starbuck__, Hotdog, this is Galactica's Actual," _she heard the Old Man saying. _"Do you have visual contact with the enemy?"_

"No, sir," Kara said.

"_Wait, I see something__ at three o' clock,"_ Hotdog declared. _"Galactica, Hotdog, I have visual, it is a Cylon Basestar."_

Kara looked at the diction Hotdog had indicated and saw the ship. However, it was severely damaged; it looked like the ship had been attacked.

"I can see it too, Galactica," she stated. "It doesn't seem to be in a good shape, though."

"_What do you mean?" _Adama asked through the comms.

"The ship looks damaged, it is smoking like it was shot at," she explained.

"_You think this is a trap?"_ he asked.

"I don't know." Kara continued observing the basestar. They did not attack any cylon ship lately. How the frak did that thing end up in such a bad shape?

"_Kara,"_ she heard a cold familiar voice saying through the wireless. _Frak!_ She thought. _"This is not an attack. I knew we'd find you."_

"Leoben," she murmured.

"_There is a civil war going on between the Cylons,"_ he told her. _"We were attacked by our own. Help us. We'll help you find Earth in return."_

At the same time, the whole CIC was hearing that. Cylons were asking for their help, Leoben included. They were offering to help them finding Earth as well.

"_Starbuck, return to Galactica,"_ the Admiral ordered. _"Hotdog, I'll send someone else to continue CAP with you."_

"Copy that," she agreed.

--

"No frakking way!" Lee yelled. "Dad, you can't be serious. You're going to help them? To let them come here just like that?"

The Admiral had just announced to Lee and the president that he would let a delegation of cylons come aboard to negotiate.

"I want to hear what they have to tell," he said.

"I have to agree with your father, Lee," Laura said. "They may have important information to give us."

"Leoben is with them!" Lee insisted. "He's kidnapped Kara and Kacey in the past!"

"We'll have the marines protecting them," the Older Adama assured him. "Don't think that I am taking this decision without thinking, Lee."

Lee thought for a while. "Fine, but as soon as Leoben comes aboard, I want to have a little heart to heart with him."

--

One hour later, Lee was watching the cylon delegation coming aboard. Kara was there with him. She had insisted on being there, to show Leoben that he didn't scare her.

As soon as Leoben stepped foot in the deck, Lee took out his gun and approached him.

"See this gun? If you try any funny business with my wife or my kids, I'll use it to blow your head off," he told the cylon.

"Kids? I didn't know you and Kara had another child," Leoben said. His maniac smile gave Lee the feeling that he was planning something.

"Try anything and I will kill you but only after making your whole body in a bloody pulp," Apollo threatened him.

Leoben ignored Lee and looked at Kara, who was standing a few feet away, avoiding his gaze. "You look good, my love."

"Go to hell," she said through his teeth.

"You need me, Kara. You know you do."

That was enough. Lee couldn't take it anymore. He closed his fist and punched the bastard in the face.

"Hey, hey! Stop it!" A Six with honey colored hair, the leader of the group, said. "Stop provoking him, Leoben. We're here to talk!"

"Consider this a warning," Lee yelled at Leoben, before turning around and leaving the Hangar deck. Kara followed him.

They entered his office and he threw himself on the chair. "Don't even bother saying it, Kara. The bastard had it coming."

"I was going to say 'Nice Punch'", she told him. "You seriously thought that I would yell at you for punching Leoben?"

He gave her a faint smile. "He's planning something," he said. "I know he is."

"We are protected, Lee. Me and the kids. He won't be able to do anything," she said, sitting in the chair in front of his desk.

"Let's hope you're not wrong," he murmured.

--

The Leader of the cylon delegation, Natalie, was talking to Roslin and Adama in the wardroom.

"A civil war is happening among the cylons," she said. "We, the Sixes, along with the Twos and the Eights believe that seeking the five final cylons, who are a taboo among our race, is important. Unfortunately, numbers One, Four, Five and Boomer do not agree with us, so, to keep us for searching for the final five, they bombarded our baseship and took all resurrection out of our download limits, to make sure we were definitely dead."

"Wait, we know you are a Six and Sharon is an Eight, which makes Leoben a Two," Roslin said. "Who are One, Four and Five? And Boomer is an Eight, why doesn't she stick with her own?"

"Number One was known as Brother Cavil among you; Four is Simon, he's a tall black guy, you must have seen him in New Caprica; Five is Aaron Doral," Natalie explained. "Boomer did not adapt easily to her cylon condition. Number One can be quite manipulative and Boomer was easy to get, so he convinced her to stick with him. Brother calls her 'his pet-Eight'."

"What about D'Anna? You didn't mention who's side she's taking," Adama asked, trying to change the subject. Boomer's memory was still painful on him…

"D'Anna can't pick a side. The whole line of Number Threes was boxed, their memories were guarded in a special facility and they are not able to download. D'Anna saw the faces of the final five in the Temple of the Five. Any contact with the Final Five was strictly forbidden, so we decided that it was necessary to box her."

"Wait, but Leoben was aware that Tory was one of the Final Five. Why wasn't he boxed as well?" Laura inquired.

"He only confided her true nature to us after we were bombarded," the Cylon stated. "Now, we believe that unboxing D'Anna and finding the other four is necessary. According to the hybrid that controls our baseship, the final five will lead us all to Earth."

"I'm sorry?" the Admiral asked. "The hybrid?"

"The hybrid controls our baseship, actually, she is connected to it, like its brain, regulating the jumps, the internal functions… She lives in some kind of trance that makes her constantly murmur things that most of the time do not make any sense, but this time, she clearly said: _'The missing three will give you the five, who'll lead for the home of the thirteenth.'_ Our baseship can heal itself of the damages caused by the attack, still most of our raiders were destroyed. We need your help to unbox D'Anna."

"Why should we trust you?" Roslin asked.

"The boxing facility is located in the Resurrection Hub, a station that controls all Resurrection Ships," Natalie started. I'll give you a reason to trust us: Revenge. Destroying the Hub will destroy the ability of all cylons to download, making us mortal."

"But you'd also lose your ability to resurrect. Why would you give that away?" Adama inquired.

"We're rebels. We can't go back in any case," she simply said.

--

Meanwhile, Leoben had managed to escape from the room where he was being held by killing two Marines who were guarding the door and also a number Eight from his delegation, who had tried to stop him. He had switched his clothes with these that one of the marines was wearing, which made him almost unrecognizable.

He walked through the corridors until he reached the ready room's hatch. He had seen in the schedules that Kara was teaching a class of nuggets in there. The door was guarded by a marine. Leoben approached him.

"Excuse me, Sergeant, I was sent to replace you," he told the marine.

"I was ordered to be here 'till 1800," the marine said, when he turned around to check the time in the clock on the wall behind him, Leoben hit him with the handle of his gun, knocking him out.

He dragged the unconscious sergeant to one of the closets in the hallway and replaced him outside the door. Minutes later, the nuggets exited the ready room, followed by Kara. She was too busy reading the papers in her hands to even look at the 'marine' taking her.

Leoben followed Kara through the corridors of the battlestar. When they passed the CIC, he saw a very pregnant Six exiting the room. That completely caught him out of guard. He assumed that was Caprica-Six, the traitor who had taken Kara away from him in the basestar, a parasite.

"Hey, what are you doing here?" Kara asked her. Leoben noticed the friendly tone between them. "I thought you were on maternity leave."

"I am but in this time of the day communication lines are all full and it is a little difficult for Hoshi to do his work and also take care of them, so I dropped by to help. Plus this gives me something to do," she explained.

"These last weeks are kind of boring, aren't they?" Kara asked. "At least I had Hotdog to torment. You wouldn't believe how amusing it is to make a guy clean a toilet with a toothbrush."

"Well, not all of us have personal slaves. Sam tries to drop by every day and we play triad," Jane said. "He's been great friend."

"Yeah, a _friend_," Kara repeated in a bored voice. She could clearly say that they had been in love with each other for months and nothing. Gods, it was Lee and her all over again.

Leoben was hearing their chat. So Kara and that traitor were friends, how ironic…

"Hey, I have some things of Zak that maybe you could take for the baby," he heard Kara tell Jane. "Wanna get them now?"

"Okay. Just make sure they are not blue, I have a feeling this one is a girl," Jane stated, patting her bump.

--

At the same time, when Athena was in her way to the Hangar Deck, she saw Kara and Jane talking lively while they walked, followed by a marine. However, when she looked at the marine, she immediately identified him. Leoben. She reached for one of the phones in the wall and dialed the CIC number.

"Hoshi, this is Athena. Alert the marines that Leoben escaped. He's posing as a marine himself and escorting Starbuck and Jane. I don't think they noticed it is him," she instructed the officer. "I'll follow them for now. They seem to be going to deck 5."

"Roger that, Athena," he replied.

Sharon grabbed her gun and followed them from a distance. She hoped the marines would arrive soon; she was not sure if she would be able to control the situation by herself.

In her way, she saw Cally, who was repairing some air conditioning conducts. She was not her biggest fan, but she would have to do.

"Cally," she called discreetly. "Call the Hangar Deck and warn Major Adama and Lt. Anders that Leoben escaped and is following Starbuck and Jane. Tell them I'm following them."

Cally's breath caught in her throat. She immediately ran to one of the phones without questioning the cylons orders.

Sharon kept following them, never putting the gun down. Suddenly, she saw the marines entering the hallway coming from the stairs a few feet in front of Leoben.

"Freeze!" the Leader yelled, pointing his shotgun at Leoben. The cylon, however, instead of staying immobile, put his arm around Jane's neck and pointed the gun at her head. Kara, who was closer to him, tried to take her gun out when she realized the marine was in fact Leoben Conoy.

"Don't even think of it, Kara," he told her, holding Jane tighter. "Make any sudden move and I'll blow your friend's brains up. Remember that this time there is no resurrection ship around. Put the gun on the floor and kick in my direction."

"You'll not kill me, Leoben," Jane said through her teeth, still with the gun pointed to her head. "I'm pregnant. God would never forgive you if you killed this child."

"God took my family away from me. I don't give a damn about what He thinks, much less about that child, the kid of a traitor!" he shouted.

Starbuck slowly put the gun on the floor and passed it to him as he had said. "I'm unarmed now, Leoben. Let her go!"

"I don't think so," he said.

"There is no way you'll get away with this alive unless you let them go," the leader of the marines said.

"Letting them go is not an option," Leoben announced. He had never counted on getting away alive. But he didn't plan to go alone, either. If he could not have Kara, nobody could. Leoben turned the gun that he was pointing to Six to Starbuck and shot. Still, Sharon was faster and pushed her to the ground, making the bullet hit the wall instead of Kara.

In the middle of that confusion, Jane had managed to escape from Leoben's hold and joined the marines.

"Bad move, Athena," he told the other cylon. Unexpectedly, he shot the gun again, this time in Jane's direction, and hit her in the chest before any of the marines could even move a muscle. In return, he received several bullets shot by Natalie, who had just arrived with Roslin, the Old Man, Lee and Sam.

Sam immediately ran to Jane, who was lying on the floor, still barely conscious. He tried, horrified, to stop the bleeding but it was too much. The woman he loved was dying in front of him…

**A/N: Yes, I am horrible, I am a monster. I got a pregnant woman shot. If you are really kind and send loads of reviews, maybe I'll update monday. Plus, as I hate crutches, I will probably stay at home 'till my ankle is better, which means I have loads of time to write. Review!**


	33. Forever

Jane was being hurried by the medics through Galactica's corridors in the direction of the life station. Sam was by her side, never letting her hand go. She was bleeding too much…

Cottle was already waiting in the sickbay. "Son, you have to stay outside," he told Sam.

"But…"

"We'll do all we can to save her and the child. Having you here won't help," Cottle assured Sam.

"Let me at least have a moment with her. Please," Sam begged.

"Make it quick."

He approached the bed where Jane was being treated. Ishay was in the opposite side of it, trying to control the bleeding. Another medic, Kim, was monitoring the baby's heartbeat. Jane was still conscious. He could tell by her eyes that she was scared, so scared…

"Hold in there, Janie. Please. I love you, you can't go like this," he told her, caressing her right hand.

Her eyes widened at his confession. She wanted to say it back, but she was feeling her body weakening and she needed all the strength she could, if not to save herself, then to save her baby. Jane blinked, hoping Sam would understand that meant 'I love you too'. He kissed her forehead and left the makeshift OR.

"Doctor, I can't stop the bleeding, I think the bullet hit the aorta," Ishay announced. She noticed Jane was not conscious anymore. "She's just lost consciousness."

"Fetal BP is dropping," Kim told the doctor.

"Frak!" Cottle cursed. "She's 35 weeks along. We need to take the kid out now or we'll lose them both. Kim, get me a surgery kit now. Ishay, don't take your hands of that bleeding!"

--

Sam was pacing outside the sickbay. He was scared, terrified. Jane had been his wall of sanity for the last months. He could not lose he like that. And her baby… He loved that child like it was his own; he didn't give a damn if it was part cylon. Gods, he wished it was his… Losing any of them or both would be horrible.

"Sam," he heard Kara call. He turned and saw her approaching him with Lee and Sharon. "How is she? And the baby?"

"I don't know. She just came in," he said. "Gods, I knew that guy was depraved, but shooting a pregnant woman… How could he?!"

"He was insane," Lee told him. "Now he's burning in hell, where he belongs."

"I should have seen it was him posing as my bodyguard," Kara murmured. "He wanted to kill _me_, not her! That frakking son of a bitch!"

"Don't blame yourself, Kara," Sharon murmured. "It was Leoben's fault. Only his. They should have boxed him years ago."

Bill Adama appeared in the other hand of the hallway, followed by Roslin, Natalie and several marines.

"Is she alright?" Natalie asked immediately. "I can't believe he did that."

"She's still alive. Cottle is taking care of her," Sam declared.

"Gods, what was I thinking?" the Older Adama said. "I should have listened to you, Lee. That lunatic was too dangerous to be in this ship."

"Dad, you believed the marines could handle it," Lee stated. "Like Sharon said, this is Leobens's fault."

Natalie looked upset. With all the mess that hallway had become after Caprica was shot, she didn't even have the chance to see her 'sister' and how serious the wound was. That show Leoben had thrown could have completely ruined the negotiations with the colonials. She had managed to take a gun from one of the marines and kill Leoben before someone else did it. The other cylons would not be happy if the humans killed one of them, even in those circumstances. She had to do it herself. "Admiral, Madam President, I want to apologize for this situation. We let ourselves be fooled by Leoben as well," Natalie declared. "I am going to return to the baseship; I don't think this is the best time for diplomacy." She turned to the Admiral. "Please contact me when you have news."

She turned around and was followed by the marines to the hangar deck.

When the cylon disappeared, Roslin turned to Sharon. "Do you think she noticed Miss Natasi's pregnancy?"

"I don't think so. She would have mentioned it. With all that mess, it is possible she did not see the bump," Athena declared.

"Let's keep it that way," Bill suggested.

It was only about two hours later that Cottle exited the sickbay.

"How is Jane, doc?" Sam asked him immediately.

"We did all we could, son, but the bullet caused too much damage in her heart. We preformed a c-section to save the baby and proceeded to try to extract the bullet and fix the damage but she didn't make it," Cottle said.

Sam immediately turned to Athena expectantly. "She'll download into another body, isn't she? She'll come back."

"Leoben said there were no resurrection ships around," she replied. "I'm sorry."

"No, he was lying!"

"He was not," Laura told him. "Natalie confirmed it. The cylons are in a civil war. The opposite faction took every resurrection ship out of their limits so the rebels would not be able to download. Jane is not coming back."

Sam started breathing hard. "No, she's not gone, she's not gone, she's not gone," he kept repeating.

"She is, Sam," Kara told him, reaching for his hand.

"She's not! She can't be!" he yelled, taking his hand away in denial. "She's still alive isn't she? She'll come back!"

Lee grabbed him by the shoulders and looked at him in the eyes. "She'll not, Sam. She won't come back. And I am sure as hell that wherever she is, she wouldn't want to see you like this."

He had tears in his eyes. "I love her. I told her too late. What am I gonna do? I was too late and now she's gone!"

"You will say goodbye, and you will keep living your life, because that is what she would have wanted you to do," Lee said.

Sam sat on one of the chairs and covered his face with his hands. He sat like that for several minutes until he turned to Cottle. "I want to see her," he said Cottle. "I need to see her or this won't seem real. I need to say goodbye."

The doctor sighed and nodded. "Follow me."

"Wait," Sam said, remembering the baby. "Is her baby alright?"

"Yes, the baby is fine. It is a girl."

Kara smiled faintly from her chair. "She said she had a feeling the baby would be a girl."

"Come with me, I'll take you to her," Cottle instructed him.

Sam did as he was told. Jane's body was still in the same OR where he had left her. She looked paler, probably from the blood loss. When he touched her hand, he noticed she was still faintly warm and her skin felt just as soft as it used to be.

"The doc said you had a girl," he whispered to her lifeless body. "I haven't seen her yet but I'm sure she is just as beautiful as you. I won't leave her alone, I promise. I'm sorry I only had the guts to tell you how I felt about you when you were about to die. Gods, I am such a chicken. I can't believe you are gone…" He caressed her face and kissed her softly in the lips. "I'll love you forever."

He let go of her hand and stood there a few minutes, not wanting to let go. He let himself cry for several minuted; he had won that right after losing her in that unexpected way. Gods, he felt like a part of him had died with her, he wanted to die. He wanted to share his problems with his confident or his best friends but he couldn't; both of them had died with Jane. He met Cottle again outside the curtain. "The baby is in there," he said, pointing at a little bassinet next to Ishay's desk where she was filling some paperwork.

Sam walked to the place where the doctor had pointed and stared at the little person inside the bassinet. The baby girl was asleep. He simply couldn't think of her as a hybrid. She was just a baby to him… no, she was more than that; she had already occupied a piece of his heart. Even though she was still small and wrinkled, he could tell that she would grow to become a beautiful girl, like her mommy. The color of the hair in her head was brown but nor as dark as Baltar's. Other than her hair color, the baby didn't look Gaius Baltar's child at all. More like a mini-Jane: the same lips, the same nose, the same shape of the face…

She would never have the chance to meet her mother, to hear her voice, her laugh, to see her smile and to feel her touch. He would not be able to feel these things again either. She was gone. Forever.

"She is a week premature but she's perfectly healthy," Ishay told him. "She's just a bit smaller than an average baby."

"She's amazing," he said, caressing the baby's cheek carefully with his finger. Her skin was so soft…

He wondered if that feeling in his chest – pride and a seemingly endless happiness – was what being a father was like. He might not be blood related to that little girl but he already loved her endlessly.

"_We need to find that baby a home,"_ Sam heard the President say a few feet away.

"_Maybe Helo and Sharon can look after the child while we try to find another solution for her," _the Admiral suggested. _"Lee and Kara have an infant child themselves, asking them to look after the baby would be too much."_

"_What about her biological father?" _Cottle asked.

"_Gaius Baltar is out of question. Miss Natasi didn't even want him to have contact with the child," _Roslin immediately replied.

A sensation of possessiveness burst in Sam's chest. That baby belonged with him. He loved her. Giving her to someone else would be like ripping one of his limbs, taking another piece of his soul, which had already been ripped apart because of his Jane's death. He immediately joined Roslin, Adama and Cottle in the discussion.

"I'll keep her," he said.

"Excuse me?" Laura asked.

"I'll take care of the baby," he said. "Jane was my best friend, the woman I loved. I love that child as if she was my own flesh and blood. I will take care of her. Just fill the papers with my name as the father."

"Lieutenant, are you sure you want this? Can you take care of a child by yourself?" Adama asked. "She's a half-cylon. A lot of people will not accept it. And you have a career; you are a junior class lieutenant and a pilot. Are sure you are willing to put all that behind for that baby?"

"In a heartbeat, sir. I've never been so sure of anything else in my whole life. I want to be the father of that child and I don't frakking care if people will accept it or not. As for taking care of her, I'm willing to learn," he declared. "Bring me the papers and I'll sign them."

"Samuel, this baby is not Jane," Roslin said. "She will not replace her mother."

"I am not trying to replace her, Madam President. Nobody will ever replace Jane. But I loved Jane and I love that little girl. Seriously, I want to give her a family, even if that family is just me. I can do this," he insisted.

Laura sighed, giving up. "Alright, you can take care of the baby. You seem to love her deeply and the gods know she'll need to be loved."

"Thank you, Madam President," he told Roslin.

Sam rejoined Ishay by the bassinet in order to fill the paperwork.

"So, what will you call her?" Ishay asked him.

Sam's mind drifted to a talk about names that he had had with Jane a few weeks after colonial day.

_Sam and Jane were sharing a table in the mess-hall._

"_How's the name list?" he asked her._

"_I've already decided that I will call the baby John if it is a boy, I wanted Charlie, but Charlie Natasi doesn't sound too good, not a lot of names go with my last name. I'm still not sure about girl's names," she stated, taking a bite from her food. _

"_Okay, then I'll help you," he said. "Hear this: Samantha Natasi."_

_She laughed. "Oh, how nice of you to pick the feminine version of your own name. Really, Sam," she told him sarcastically._

"_What about Sarah? Sarah Natasi, it sounds nice," he said. _

"_I don't think so. Sarah__ was the name of the Six who was in charge of the executions in New Caprica. It does not bring a lot of good memories," she pointed out. "What was your mother's name? Just to get ideas."_

"_Gertrude," he replied and she frowned. "But her middle name was Katherine."_

"_Katherine__," she repeated. "That's one interesting name: Katherine Natasi… Kate. I like it. I'll put it in the top of my list. If not for a first name, maybe for the middle one."_

"_Wait, but I thought you'd make sure the baby's middle name was Samuel or Samantha, after your bestest friend" he joked. _

"_Keep dreaming," she told him, laughing. "Plus, bestest is not even a word."_

"_Well, if is a girl, no matter what you name her, she'll always be JJ to me. Janie Junior," he declared. "It can also apply to a boy if you actually call him John."_

"_JJ sounds nice for a nickname," she agreed. "But whatever you say, I am not naming my kid Samuel or Samantha."_

"_Blame me for trying," he said._

He looked at the baby in the bassinet. The name Katherine… Kate looked good in her.

"Katherine," he replied to Ishay.

"That's a beautiful name. What about the middle name?" The medic asked

"Jane, like her mom," Sam told her.

"Katherine Jane Anders," Ishay said as she wrote it down in the birth certificate. She looked up from the papers. "Would you like to hold her so she gets used you?"

"Yeah, that would be nice," he agreed.

The medic got up and approached the bassinet, lifting the little baby in there. She carefully placed the child in Sam's waiting arms. She squirmed a bit in order to adjust herself to him and then, she opened her eyes and stared at him inquisitorially. Sam wondered if feeling so happy even though Jane had just died was wrong…

"Gods, you'll look so much like your mom, kid," he murmured, letting the baby grasp his finger. "You have a strong grip, don't you, JJ?"

She closed her eyes again, drifting to sleep again.

"Hey, Ishay," Sam murmured in order not to wake the baby. "Do you think I could take her outside the sickbay for a few minutes? I think Jane's friends would like t meet her. They are right outside."

"As long as you don't take too long…"

He nodded and slowly walked to the hatch, never taking his eyes of the child. Gods, if there was someone who could help him get over his best friends's death, he was sure it would be that baby.

--

Kara was resting her head against Lee's shoulder in the waiting room with little Zak napped snuggled against her. Kacey was sitting quietly next to Hera. They were able to feel the sadness in the room. Helo seemed to have arrived in the meantime and had his arm around Sharon. They looked grieving. Jane had become part of the group after she had rescued Kara from Leoben, they had all unexpectedly become good friends. It was unfair not being able to enjoy that friendship a while longer…

The Admiral and the President had entered the sickbay about half an hour before and were still in there talking to Cottle.

Suddenly, they heard the hatch opening and Sam exiting it with a small pink bundle in his arms.

"Is that…" Sharon started.

"Yeah," he confirmed.

She got up and joined him, looking at the baby. Helo followed her.

"Sam, I just wanted to tell you how sorry I am," Helo told him, putting his hand in his shoulder.

"Yeah, thanks," Sam said, trying to keep himself calm.

Kara and Lee also approached him in order to get a glimpse of that baby. Kacey asked her father to lift her from the floor so she could see the baby girl and Hera did the same. Zak was still sleeping in Kara's arms.

"What is going to happen to her now?" Lee asked.

"I'm registering her as mine, and I'll take care of her," he announced, receiving surprised looks in return. "Don't look at me like that. I love JJ as if she was my own. I'll raise and, gods help me, I'll be damn well at that. I owe this to Jane and to myself. JJ is my priority now."

"JJ?" Kara asked.

"Her name is Kate. JJ is my nickname for her, Janie Junior," Sam stated.

"Listen, Sam," Sharon started. "We don't doubt you will be a great father, it's just that you have the right to grieve. Maybe you should take some time for yourself, to get over what happened. We'll look after Kate while you do that."

"No," he said. "I need to do this. I don't need to isolate myself to grieve; I don't need to stay away from JJ. It's exactly the opposite. Half an hour ago, I was falling apart. I was staring at Jane's body and wishing I was dead. But then I went to see JJ. She is the only thing that is keeping me alive right now. So I will do this."

Nobody spoke for several minutes. Sam couldn't help missing Jane's presence in the group. He held his daughter closer to his chest and, for a second, he was sure things were going to be okay.

"Jane was a good friend," Kara murmured. "May the gods let her soul rest in peace."

"So say we all," Lee said.

"So say we all," the rest chorused.

**A/N: I'm sorry! Please don't kill me. In this chapter's timeline, several things happened and this is just Galactica's point of view. Other points of view will be shown in flashbacks in future chapters. Jane's death will be important for what will happen in the future. This was my longest chapter. Please, review. I need your feedback. Review!**


	34. Jump

Sam was lying on his bunk in the quarters that used to belong to Jane. He was just staring at the ceiling. The room was so quiet that he could hear his daughter breathing softly in her crib. Then ,when someone knocked the hatch, the sound was like an explosion in his ears. Thankfully, the baby didn't notice it. He got up and guided to the hatch, unlocking it.

When he opened the metal door, he saw her there, his Jane. Beautiful like always. She was wearing a fluid white dress, her hair was dark blond like she had been keeping it in the last year and her skin looked so pure… What was she doing there? Was she a ghost? No, she had managed to knock on the hatch, which meant she had a corporeal form. His heart was racing.

"Hi, Sam," she said, smiling. "Do you mind if I come in?"

"How can you be here? You died, Jane," he asked, his voice breaking. "Am I imagining this?"

She grabbed his hand and brought it to her face, closing her eyes as she felt his touch. "Have you ever imagined something this real?"

"No," he replied. He didn't feel nervous anymore, her touch calmed his heart. She stepped inside the cabin and he closed the hatch behind her. He approached her and held her hand again. "I missed you, Janie. I love you so much…"

"I love you, too," she said, brushing her knuckles in his face. Then she kissed him chastely in the lips. When they broke apart, she looked him in the eyes, grey meeting blue. "I want to see my baby."

He nodded and made a sign for her to follow him to the room. In there, they approached the crib. JJ was awake and staring up at them.

Jane leaned in the crib and lifted the baby in her arms. "She's so beautiful, Sam. Our little girl."

He smiled. She had referred JJ as their daughter, not hers. "She's great."

Jane looked at him in the eyes and took a step in his direction, putting the baby in his arms. "You are a wonderful father, Sam," she told him. "You'll do fine. I have to go now."

"What? No, don't go, Jane. Don't leave me again," he begged, following her as she walked out of the room and back to the hatch. JJ started crying in his arms.

Suddenly, she looked back and the room surrounding them turned white.

--

Sam woke up sweating. That dream again. Every night since Jane's death, three weeks ago, he had had that exact dream: Jane showing up alive, always wearing that dress that made her look like a goddess, saying she loved him and reassuring about his parent skills right before she left. The priest he had been consulting had told him this dreams came as part of his grief but everything felt so real…

He got up from the rack and approached the crib where JJ was sleeping peacefully. He looked at the clock in the wall. She would wake up soon.

Sam went to the main room and walked to the makeshift kitchen set in one of the corners in order to prepare his daughter's formula. He heated it in a small portable camping stove he had managed to get and returned to the room in order to feed JJ. Like he had imagined, she was already awake.

"Eating time," he told the baby as he put the bottle on the table and lifted her from the crib.

She was an easy baby but the first days he had her home were complicated. Sam had never taken care of a child before; he didn't have the palest idea of what to do. He had to swallow his pride and call Lee and Kara for help. Kacey and Zak seemed to be doing pretty good with them as parents. So, after a long begging operation, Kara and Lee agreed in teaching him the baby care basics. Now, he seemed to be doing fine. At least the baby was not complaining much.

He sat in the bed and fed her the bottle. JJ looked at him as she ate. Her eyes were the exact same color as her mother's, grey with a slight azure tinge. He wondered if that color would stick.

Sam glanced at his bedside table and saw Jane's photo there. He was supposed to put it in the memorial hallway but he just couldn't bring himself to do it. The dreams he had been having made him fell like she was still somewhat alive and putting her photo in there would end that feeling, maybe end the dreams as well…

--

Later that day, Kara was standing in front of the podium in the ready room. The six nuggets were sitting in the chairs in front of her looking anxious.

"So, the big day is here," Starbuck announced. "The day you either become official pilots of the colonial fleet or are washed out."

She kept looking at the nuggets, enjoying seeing them nervous. This was kind of a game for her but she knew how frustrating the wait was, she had been in that same position years ago.

"All of you passed, nuggets, some by the skin of your teeth, like Beaver and Shotgun, who need to work their landings. Congratulations," she announced. "Dismissed."

The nuggets got up from their chairs and started celebrating, hugging each other, making all the noise they could.

She was kind of proud of them; they didn't know a thing about flying when they had first shown up in that room. Still, Starbuck had to keep her reputation. "I said dismissed, people! Don't make me regret passing you all. Get the hell out of my view!"

As she expected, the nuggets quickly exited the room, intimidated by her tone. She was good… Kara sighed and started to fix her papers. She needed to drop them in Lee's office before getting the kids from daycare.

Suddenly, someone knocked on the open hatch. She looked up and saw a kid not older than seventeen standing in there. He seemed somewhat familiar… then she remembered who he was.

"Boxey?!" she asked. Frak, the kid had grown. She didn't hear from him since they had found a member of his family in the fleet right after the incident in the red moon.

"Hey, Starbuck," he said, grinning. "Long time, no see."

"What the frak are you doing here, kid?" she asked him, returning the grin. "Weren't you living with your grandmother or something?"

"Great-aunt," he corrected her. "Can't a guy pass by to say hi to his old friends?"

"A guy? You mean a kid," she told him. She didn't believe he had just come by all of a sudden for a courtesy visit.

"I'm sixteen," he said. "That hardly makes me a kid."

"It doesn't make you a guy either," Kara replied.

"Frak off."

"Oh, ladies and gentleman, he curses! I trained you so well…" Starbuck pretended to be sentimental. "I need to run some errands. Want to come along?"

"Sure, like the old times. You looked more threatening with short hair," he said.

She touched her ponytail as she walked. "The Old Man always said 'Don't judge a book by its cover'."

"So, what has the great Starbuck been doing in the past four years?" he asked casually.

"Oh the usual. Flying, breaking rules, getting married, getting divorced, getting married again, having kids, and on, and on," Kara said.

"Shut up, you're joking!" Boxey said in disbelief.

"Ask around," she told him as she entered Lee's office. He was probably in the Hangar Deck. "They'll all tell you the same."

"Frak, you just destroyed my idea of hero!"

"I may be a mommy, but I'm still a badass," Kara declared. "Well, when are you going to tell me the reason why you're really here? 'Cause I highly doubt this is just a courtesy visit."

"I need a favor," he said.

"I'm listening."

"I want to take part in your next nugget class," Boxey stated. "They won't let me in because I'm still sixteen but…"

"No frakking way, Boxey," she interrupted him. "I'm not letting you in until you are at least eighteen."

"But I can do it," he said. "I know the basics, I read flight manuals, I saw you guys flying. I want to help protecting the fleet; I want to take my part."

"Sit down," she said, pointing at the sofa in the office.

"What?"

"I told you to sit down, damn it!" She repeated. He obeying and sat in the sofa. "Why do you want to be a pilot right now? Why can't you wait two years for your chance? Boxey, you are sixteen. Kids of your age should be chasing girls, not worrying about protecting the fleet!"

"I want to be here, in Galactica. My great-aunt died two months ago," he said, looking sad. "Apart from her, you guys are the only family I have. They'll never let me stay here if I don't have a position in the ship and I really wanted to be a pilot."

"You can be a pilot, kid; but not now. Look, why don't you talk to the Chief. Maybe he can make you a deckhand trainee for now. You'll be able to be here in Galactica and that will probably give you enough free time to act like a kid," she said. "Don't want to grow up too fast, Kid, being an adult is not awesome, it sucks most of the time."

"Deckhand… maybe that's not a bad idea," he murmured. His face lightened up a bit. "That was a pretty speech you just gave me."

"If you mention it to anyone, I'll make sure you'll never pilot a viper or a raptor or anything else that flies in your life, you hear me?"

He got up and saluted her. "Yes, sir."

"Dismissed," she said.

He laughed and went to the hangar deck in order to talk to the Chief.

"The kid's a frakking smartass," she murmured to herself.

--

In the Admiral's office, Laura and Bill were discussing what to do about the cylon rebels.

"They've been waiting for the last three weeks. We have to make a decision," the President declared.

"We are not even sure they were telling the truth about the final five leading us to Earth…" Bill stated.

"I also thought about that. I will go to the basestar myself in order to hear what exactly the hybrid has been saying," she stated. Adama was about to protest but she interrupted him. "Don't bother; nothing you my say will change my mind from going there."

"At least take someone with you," he suggested.

"I will take few marines," she said.

"I meant someone of my complete trust, like Saul, for example," he insisted.

"Bill, I am not going to take your XO away. If something goes wrong and, gods forbid, you are unable to take command, you need him to do it for you," Laura told him.

"Then take Helo, he's a good pilot and pro with the gun," he said. She was about to retort, saying it wasn't necessary but this time he was the one who interrupted her. "Please, do it for me."

She sighed in defeat. "Alright, I will take Captain Agathon with me."

--

The first thing Lee noticed when he entered his room, was Kara asleep in the bed with Zak sleeping on her chest and Kacey snuggled against her side. There was an open book on the floor, which meant that they had probably fallen asleep as Kara read them a story.

He decided not to wake them up yet. They looked so peaceful. Zak had his thumb in his mouth and Kara was resting her right hand in the baby's back. Her other arm was surrounding Kacey's sleeping form. Gods, if he had a camera… Years ago, if someone had told him he would see a scene like that, he would have laughed like a madman.

Lee opened the wardrobe and took out a blanket to cover them. They could still sleep for another hour or so. He leaned closer to Kara and kissed her brow. "Hum…Love you, Lee," she murmured in her sleep, making him grin at the idea that she was dreaming about him.

"Love you, too," he whispered to his wife's sleeping form. He could swear she smiled on her sleep.

Sometimes it still amazed him how he and Kara had been able to create that family: loving, united… They had both came from not so good families: Kara's father had died when she was six and her mother hit her all the time; his father had left and his mother was unstable, neglecting him and his little brother over and over again. Maybe that was actually the reason why they had been able to do it; they had learnt from their parent's mistakes and subconsciously vowed to never repeat them. A reason to be proud of themselves so far.

"Daddy," Kacey whispered from the bed, looking at him, sleepily.

He walked closer to the bed and kneeled closer to her. "Don't you want to sleep anymore?" he asked. The little girl shook her head in return. "Want to go make Daddy a draw?"

She nodded, smiling and Lee lifted her to his arms, kissing her soft cheek. They went to the sitting room and he sat by the table with Kacey in his lap. Lee watched as his daughter colored a blank piece of paper with a smile in his face. These moments were worth a lifetime.

--

Natalie entered the hangar deck in order to board the raptor that would take her back to her baseship after a short meeting with Laura Roslin and Bill Adama. Roslin had informed her that she was going to the baseship herself in order to hear the hybrid's murmurs.

That was a first step. It shown that the humans were analyzing the possibility of helping them.

The Admiral had given orders to only let Natalie return to the baseship after he had received a confirmation that Laura Roslin had landed safely.

She was sitting in the raptor when she heard steps on the ramp. _Must be the pilot_, she thought. However, it was not a pilot that entered but Gaius Baltar.

"What are you doing here?!" she asked. She had only seen the man in person once, in the short period he spent in one of the baseships.

"She disappeared out of my mind. I can't hear her anymore! Make her talk to me! Why did she leave?!" he asked.

The man looked insane. "You're not making any sense! Who are you talking about?!"

"She's been there since the attacks but she disappeared since he killed her!" Baltar said desperately.

"Are you talking about Caprica-Six?" she asked.

"Yes…no. She was the one who caused her to appear but she was not the one in my head!" he said, gripping her forearms. "Why did she go?!"

Suddenly, a female pilot entered the raptor. "What the frak is Baltar doing here?" she asked, turning to instruct another pilot to call security.

"ANSWER ME!" Baltar shouted at Natalie, who was just paralyzed watching his madness. Two marines apeared and dragged Baltar out. "PLEASE!" he continued yelling.

"What is going on, Racetrack?" the Chief asked the pilot in the ramp.

"Baltar was here! How did he manage to get to this place?" Racetrack demanded to know.

"I have no idea," Tyrol said.

"Well, we'll take care of that later. I've got to take out _passenger_ back to the baseship," she stated.

The chief stepped out of the ramp and returned to teaching Boxey how to refill the vipers with fuel.

Suddenly, an explosion echoed in the deck. The back of the raptor was full of smoke.

"Racetrack!" Skulls, her usual ECO, who was standing a few feet away, entered the ship.

"I'm okay," Racetrack yelled from the inside of the raptor. A few seconds later, she and Skulled exited the ship carrying Natalie's burnt body. They lay her on the ramp.

"She's dead," the chief announced, after checking the cylon's pulse.

--

Meanwhile, in the CIC, Hoshi saw something in DRADIS.

"Admiral, the cylon baseship just jumped away," he announced.

"The president was on board," Tigh stated.

Adama simply stared at the board in shock. What the frak had just happened?

**A/N: Once again, I am sorry for the delay but yesterday, I received the confirmation that I was accepted in the University I wanted to go to and well... I had to celebrate. Anyway, this chapter has some parts taken from season 3 episode _The Son Also Rises _and season 4 _Guess What is Coming For Dinner._ I hope you liked it. Please send your feedback! Review!**


	35. The Hub

The CIC was a mess. Hoshi had been unsuccessfully trying to locate the destiny of the basestar's jump for the last two hours. The phone wouldn't stop ringing with calls from the quorum and journalists.

"Can somebody shut that damn phone?!" Tigh shouted.

Bill Adama was in one of the lines talking to Chief Tyrol. "Alright, Chief," he said. "Yes, have the marines putting him in the brig." He put the phone down.

"Any news?" Tigh asked.

"The bomber forgot to wear gloves. Chief found a finger-print in the remains of the bomb. It was Captain Kelly," he stated.

"Kelly? Our third-in-command is now a bomber?!" the XO replied, receiving a nod in return. "This whole ship is going nuts!"

"Sir?" a petty officer called Adama. "Felix Gaeta is requesting to talk to you. He says it is important."

"Pass the call," he said. He lifted the phone. "Yes, Mr. Gaeta?"

"_Sir, Tom Zerek was just sworn as the interim President__ of the colonies. I just thought you should know," _Gaeta informed the Admiral. _"He wants to meet with you."_

"Thank you for informing me Mr. Gaeta. Do me a favor and tell Zerek he can go to hell. I am not meeting him and I am not recognizing his presidency," the Old Man informed the former officer.

"_My pleasure, sir,"_ Geata replied before Adama hung up.

"Zerek's the president?!" Tigh inquired, looking alarmed. "Well, I don't see how things can get any worse."

"Sir, the recon raptor just communicated that the Ressurection Hub is not where it was before. It jumped as well," Hoshi declared.

"Okay, maybe they can get worse," the XO corrected himself.

--

In the brig, Apollo was confronting Kelly about the bomb.

"You murdered an unarmed woman, and by doing so you put the lives of every single person in this fleet at risk; and quite possibly cost the lives of the president and all the pilots and marines that were stationed inside of the baseship!" Lee yelled at the Captain.

"Sir, I will accept any form of punishment that you think I deserve," he replied. "I did my job, sir. And I have done my job for four and a half years. Every day I've sent people out to fight. I cleared them all to die. So many people. I just got tired of living with that. The cylons slaughtered us, sir. And now they show up and ask us for help?! It's just wrong. They are not exceptions like Athena or Natasi! They don't regret what they did and they didn't work hard to prove us that they earned our trust."

"That doesn't give you the right to make justice with your own hands!" Apollo replied. "Things don't work that way! You'll stay in the hack for now, until things are calmer. Then we'll get you a trial, 'cause that is the way justice is made."

Lee turned around and made a sign to the marine to open the door. When he exited it, he saw Kara waiting for him outside.

"Hey, you left the kids in daycare?" he asked.

"Daycare was closed. I left them with Cally. I have news," she said. "One of the missing raptors from the baseship was found. Sharon went to check it with Racetrack. It was empty."

"Frak," Lee cursed.

"They are bringing the raptor back to Galactica," she said.

"Let's see if we find any clue inside," he suggested as they returned to the hangar bay.

--

In the cylon baseship, Laura Roslin was in the hybrid room. One of the Eights was trying to understand what had made the hybrid command a jump all of a sudden.

"You're getting information from this liquid?" Roslin asked the Eight, looking at her hand inside an interface covered with a layer of water.

"Yes. The Hybrid is disorganized. It is panicking and I don't know why," she replied.

"Why don't you try to ask her?" Helo suggested.

"She's in a trance, she won't answer," the Eight declared.

"It won't hurt trying," Laura said, kneeling by the side of the Hybrid's tub. "Tell me. Why are you jumping the ship?"

"The Six. The Six who went among the makers is no longer," the Hybrid mumbled to the cylon's surprise. "End of line."

"The Six," Eight repeated. "She means Natalie. She was either injured or killed in Galactica. That's why the hybrid is panicking."

"Can't you calm her down?" Laura asked. "Can't you tell her to jump back?"

"It doesn't work like that. She makes her own decisions," she stated.

Suddenly, they felt the ship jump again. The Eight, who was still accessing the data-font during the jump, looked thoughtful.

"I think we're going to the resurrection hub. The mission's still on," she stated."The Hub is jumping and the Hybrid is jumping after it."

--

In Galactica's hangar deck, Lee was searching for clues inside the raptor with Boxey's help. Kara was taking care of the ship's outside.

"Couldn't have picked a better day to return, Box," Lee stated.

"Yeah, well, I can't complain of getting bored in my first day," Boxey stated. "So, is it true that Starbuck got married and is now a mommy?"

Lee snorted. The kid had no idea he was talking to her husband. "You can bet your ass in that."

"Really? I thought she was just fooling around," he said, looking under the pilot's chair. "Then, who's the husband? Someone I've met?"

"Yep," Lee confirmed, sitting in the ECO chair and searching the navigation systems.

"Wait, don't tell me it was that nugget she hated and ended up crashing him in a moon."

"Hotdog? I think he'd rather throw herself out of an airlock."

"So if it's not him, who is it," Boxey inquired.

"Me," Lee stated.

Boxey lifted his head so fast that he bumped it in the instruments board. "Ooch," he complained, scratching his head. "You married Starbuck?"

"I've got a wedding ring and two kids to prove it," Apollo told him, giving up on trying to find something in the raptor's internal computer.

"Man, you're brave," Boxey joked.

Lee noticed something under the passanger's seat and went there to see it.

"A book," he said, looking at the object.

"What?" the younger boy asked from the cockpit.

"I found a book," Apollo repeated. "_Searider Falcon._ I've seen this copy before. This belongs to my father."

"How did that get there?" Boxey said, joining him in the back of the raptor.

"I don't know, I think I'll ask him," Lee stated.

--

The Admiral was examining the book in his hands. He was sitting in his desk with Lee and Kara in front of him.

"I gave this book to Laura, earlier this morning," he stated. "That raptor must be the one that took her to the basestar. Did you find anything else in the ship?"

"No, sir," Kara said. "The ship must have been left behind when they jumped; I assume it was not correctly docked to the baseship. It has probably been swimming in space for hours. We only managed to detect it when it re-entered our DRADIS range."

"It means the only way they have to go back is the basestar's FTL," he stated.

"Exactly," Lee confirmed. "We can only wait for them to come back."

"No, we can't. The quorum is complaining that we are letting our guard down with this search. Geata was sworn interim president minutes ago and he stated that he agreed with them," Adama informed them. "They know where we are and we've been in this place for too long. We need to jump to another system."

"You're willing to leave the president and all these pilots behind?" Kara asked, with a slight tone of disagreement in her voice.

"I already have that covered," he said. "I need to talk to Saul before I work on it."

--

Meanwhile, in the basestar, Roslin was waiting anxiously for news. They had arrived to the hub two hours ago.

Helo and the Eight that helped them with the hybrid had designed a plan to unbox D'Anna and then blow up the hub. All the pilots in the basestar were taking part in that plan. It was all or nothing.

Two raptors, one piloted by the Eight and Lieutenant Pike, other by Helo and a Six, would take care of unboxing D'Anna while the vipers destroyed the ship's capacity to jump, handled things outside until the raptors were out and then nuked the skip.

Currently, Roslin was pacing back and forth in the control room, waiting for news. A black-haired six was controlling the communications.

"President Roslin," the six called. "It was just communicated that the vipers managed to destroy the hub's FTL and that Captain Agathon and Eight are about to land in the facility."

"Thank the gods," she murmured.

The first phase of the plan was done: destroying the ship's FTL so it would not be able to disappear again. Now, the vipers would start fighting the raiders protecting it. She just hoped Helo and Eight would be able to make it out of there safely with D'Anna.

The minutes waiting felt like hours. "They have D'Anna aboard," the Six announced. "Captain Agathon is taking longer to leave the hub. The vipers are waiting to launch the nukes."

Helo was still inside. What was going on? Laura waited nervously to hear something new.

"Agathon is out of there. The vipers are starting to nuke the facility now," the Six said minutes later.

The president sighed in relief. That part was over, but the game was just starting…

--

Lee was enjoying a meal with his family in his office. It was the first break he had managed to get since the president had disappeared five hours ago.

Kara was feeding some algae mush to baby Zak right in front of him in the table and Kacey was eating on her own.

Suddenly, the phone rang and he answered. "Adama."

"_Your old man lost it," _Tigh's voice announced. _"He's staying behind in a raptor in order to wait for Roslin to come back."_

"What?!" Lee asked.

"What's going on, Lee?" Kara asked him. He made her a sign to wait a minute.

"_I tried to make him stop but he's already in a flight suit and going to the __raptor," _the XO stated. _"Go there and put some sense in the man's mind!" _Then, he hung up.

"What happened?" Kara inquired, cleaning Zak's mouth.

"My father has a death wish. He wants to stay back waiting for the president after we jump," Lee announced. "He's already going to the hangar bay."

"What?!" she asked. Kara got up from the table holding Zak against her hip. "What are you waiting for, Lee? We have to go there!"

"But the kids…" he started.

"We'll take them," she said. "If their pleading looks don't convince him to stay, I don't know what will…"

--

Bill Adama was preparing the raptor to go. He couldn't leave the people in the baseship behind; he couldn't leave _her_ behind.

"Dad!" he heard someone calling him from outside the ship.

The Old Man exited the raptor and found his son, daughter-in-law and grandchildren outside.

"What you doing?" Kara asked him. "Waiting alone in a Raptor, while the rest of the Fleet jumps away? That sounds a lot like suicide, Dad."

"At least I am only risking my own neck," he told her. "I don't know if I ever told this to any of you, but one of my first missions was a solo recon. Being alone in a Raptor in enemy space... I'm not going to lie to you, I was scared. I told myself that I was doing my duty, and ultimately I faced my fear. That's a good memory."

There was a moment of silence, which was broke by Lee. "Why are you doing this?"

"Because I can't live without her," he declared. "And Laura is gonna get to the rendezvous point. I have to believe that."

Kacey, who had been silent the whole time, approached her grandfather, who kneeled in front of her. She looked unsure, almost scared. "Gwandpa, you comin back?"

He did not know what to answer. He couldn't say 'yes' because he was not sure he would return but he couldn't say 'no' either because that would break her little heart.

He took a deep breath. "Grandpa will do all he can to come back," he told her. "And I'll try to bring grandma along as well."

She gave him a little smile and hugged him. He returned the hug immediately.

"I wow you gwandpa," she whispered in his ear, like she was telling him a secret.

"I love you too, little girl," he replied, kissing her hair and breaking the hug, in order to get up.

Kara looked at him in the eyes. She was holding little Zak against her side. "I guess nothing we can possibly say will change your mind."

The admiral approached them, kissed his grandson's hair and her forehead.

"I won't change my mind. What do you hear, Starbuck?"

"Nothing but the rain, sir," she replied.

"Grab your gun and bring the cat in." Then, he turned to his son.

Lee gave him a manly hug. Their relationship had progressed a lot since the attacks. Five years earlier, he would not even consider an embrace with his father. "Don't you make me tell my children their grandpa is never coming back, okay?" he requested him.

The older Adama took a step back. "Keep a light on. I'll be back," he told his son.

Lee picked Kacey up and joined Kara and Zak watching the Old man boarding the raptor and, minutes later, the ship leaving.

Now he was on his own.

--

In the basestar, Laura Roslin was waiting in the hangar for the raptor to open its ramp. When it was done, the Eight was the first to step outside followed by Pike. Then, a figure wrapped in a white bath robe stepped out of the ship as well.

"D'Anna," Laura said, "I heard you have some information that might interest us."

"Oh, you have no idea," the cylon replied.

**A/N: This chapter is just preparing the terrain for the next one, which I hope will be posted around thursday. Anyway, i'd like to have feedback you know? Please review! Give your opinion.**


	36. Behind the Mask

Roslin was staring at D'Anna. She looked rather calm for someone who had just been unboxed.

Helo came out of an airlock along with a Six and walked in her direction.

"Madam President," he greeted her, giving her a salute. "Mission accomplished."

"Well done, Captain," she said. Laura turned to the Six who was with Helo. "Well done to you too. Without yours and Eight's cooperation getting D'Anna back would not have been possible."

"Thank you," the cylon said with a small smile in her face before walking away.

The Three was looking at her. "Well, aren't you nice, Laura?" she asked the president in a sarcastic voice. "You went to a lot of trouble to bring me here. I suppose you've got some questions for me."

Laura nodded. "Yes, I do. Why don't we go talk in private?"

D'Anna shrugged her shoulders and followed the president to an empty room. They sat in to empty chairs, one opposite to another.

"I'd like to talk about the five Cylons in my Fleet," Roslin declared.

"So you know about the Final Five," Three murmured.

"I know they're supposed to know the way to Earth," she replied.

"But you don't know that you're one of them?" D'Anna asked, looking serious.

Laura's heart jumped. She was a cylon?! All this time? No, it was not possible. She almost dies with cancer! _A cylon would not be able to have cancer in the first place, or would it? _She thought.

Suddenly, the cylon started laughing. Laura rolled her eyes, the frakking toaster was joking.

"Your face! Oh, it's ridiculous!" D'Anna stated. "No, look, I'm not giving you any names. Not until I feel like I'm safe, because information is all I got, sweetie. I'm mortal now. In fact, I'm the only Three in the whole darn universe. So I gotta worry about protecting myself. I'll tell you who the Final Five are when you take me back to your Fleet. Because I don't trust anyone right now: human or cylon."

"Then I guess our conversation is over," Laura stated.

"You guess well," she said, getting up and walking to the door. "Oh, by the way, I have the information so I'm taking over the command of operations right now. This is not gonna be a little picnic, Laura. Consider yourself our hostage…no, 'guestage' sounds better. Consider yourself our 'guestage'. I'll send someone to watch you in here."

Laura stared at the cylon as she left the room. Things would be more difficult than she had predicted…

--

Lee was in his father's office. The Old Man had left around half an hour before and everybody was already missing his presence.

On top of the desk there was a box full of Laura's stuff. Gaeta had sent that there personally when he had assumed the presidency, a few hours ago; Colonial One was full of reporters; he did not want to risk any of them to get hold of the 'late' president's possessions.

Apollo took an old book from the top of the pile. _The Book of Pythia_, he read. There was a page marked in the book. He opened in that page and looked up at an illustration of the Temple of Aurora, supposedly on Earth.

The hatch behind him opened and shut seconds later. He didn't even need to turn to know who it was.

"I heard you were here," Kara's voice told him. She stood at his side with her arm around his back and her head on his shoulder. She saw the picture. "The Temple of Aurora," she murmured.

"On Earth," Lee said, not taking his eyes of the book. "That's the way Pythia described."

"We'll get there," Kara told him. "Walk on those halls together. Our babies will run through its gardens and we'll chase them around trying to catch them as usual."

"Yeah, pretty to think so," Lee replied faintly.

She sighed and rubbed his back. "Don't talk like that, Lee. We'll reach Earth; we've never been this close. We will have our bright and shiny future in there, you'll see."

He turned to her and smiled a bit. "When did you become the optimistic one?"

"I dunno. I guess it grows into you," she said. She looked at the box on top of the desk. "Is this Laura's stuff? Looks like it's waiting for them to return."

Lee nodded as looked at his father's chair. "No one sits in this chair. Tigh can't even look at it. You know, the scariest thing my mum used to tell me when I was a kid it's 'Your father is waiting for you in the study'," Lee told her. "I'd knock on the door; make the long walk across the room to that desk. I was scared shitless."

"Wonder if our kids will ever be scared of big-bad-desk with big-bad-daddy sitting behind it," she told him.

"Nah, I'm not the desk type," he said. She raised an eyebrow. "Okay, maybe I am but I don't plan on using it to intimidate our kids."

"Speaking of kids, where are they?"

"In our quarters. Don't worry, I left Boxey with them," she said.

"Well, we'd better go back, we both know how these two can get when they're cranky."

--

Sam entered the life station with JJ in order to have her regular checkup. He sat on one of the chairs waiting for Cottle or one of the medics to call them. The baby was asleep in his arms. She slept most of the time, he found that strange at first but Cottle assured him that it was regular among newborns.

He heard the curtain opening and looked up, expecting to see Cottle, Ishay or Kim. Instead, there was his very own ex-fiancée Diana Seelix.

"This is a frakking nightmare!" he said to himself.

Seelix smiled smugly, taking a sit a few feet away from him. "Long time, no see, Sam. Missed me?" she asked.

"Why don't you go somewhere else and see if I'm there?" he suggested.

"No, thank you, I'm just fine in here."

"Seriously, Seelix, I insist. What are you doing here anyway? Wait, let me guess, you slept with Baltar and he gave you a little more than love. Perhaps a little rash… That would a perfect representation of divine justice."

She glared at him annoyed. "Not that it is any of your business, Sam, but Gaius had to be transferred to the sickbay. I'm just giving my support. What about you, Sam? Are you here for yourself or for your bastard child?"

"Don't you dare talk like about my daughter," he said through his teeth. "If you want to be a bitch, go do it somewhere else. Just frakking layoff."

"Ouch, Sammy. Do you kiss your bastard daughter with that mouth?"

Sam looked like he wanted to kill her with his eyes. "I'm just wondering what I was thinking when I got engaged to you? I never thought my standards were that low."

"I suppose they got even lower lately," she told him.

"What are you trying to say, Diana? Really, if you want to say something, just do it at once!" JJ moved in his arms; the conversation had waked her up.

"I'm talking about your toaster bitch! How long had you been frakking her while we were still together?" she asked bitterly.

Sam got up and approached her with a dangerous look. JJ was growing agitated in his arms. "I swear, Seelix, if you insult Jane ever again I will make you swallow these words and your teeth. I don't care if you're a chick! And for your information, I never cheated on you. Unlike you, I actually respected our relationship."

Before Seelix could say anything, Cottle and Ishay appeared.

"No yelling in my sickbay! Ishay, take Anders and the kid to the exam room," the doctor said.

Ishay nodded and signaled Sam to follow her.

He could feel JJ tense, so he held her closer as he walked. "Shh, Daddy's sorry he scared you," he murmured to his daughter was he rubbed her back.

They reached an examining are and he put the baby on the bed.

"Big fight out there, hum?" the medic asked.

"She was pushing it," he replied. "What's wrong with Baltar? She mentioned she was visiting him…"

"I'm not supposed to discuss it," Ishay told him as she checked on the baby. "But well, you'll hear it sooner or later. If someone asks you, I'm not the one who told you. The guy had a mental breakdown."

Sam was sitting on the bed next to JJ, playing with her little hand in order to distract her from the needle Ishay was about to use in order to take a blood sample.

"A mental breakdown?"

"Yeah. Yesterday he appeared out of the blue in the hangar bay screaming at the leader of the cylon rebels just before she was killed," Ishay told him, carefully collecting the baby's blood.

"I heard of that," he said. The baby seemed oblivious to the fact that Ishay was taking her blood. "How did you do it? She didn't even feel you sticking her!"

"Experience," the medic explained. "Anyway, the marines took Baltar to the brig but then they saw he was acting really weird. He kept murmuring stuff like 'I can't hear her anymore', 'She's disapeared'. They ended up calling Doctor Cottle and he brought him here."

"But who was he calling for?"

"We don't know for sure, but if you asked my opinion, I'd say it has to do with your girl, Jane, or at least another Six. I don't think it was a coincidence he confronted one of them."

Sam thought for a while. Could it be? Could Baltar be mourning for Jane as well? He had abandoned her… Maybe he felt guilty… Or maybe it was not her at all.

"All done," the medic declared, interrupting his thoughts. "She seems healthy. I'll tell you if there's anything wrong with the results of the blood work when I have them."

"Yeah, thanks," Sam replied, picking the baby up again and walking away. Just the feeling of having JJ in the same room as Baltar freaked him out.

--

Laura was once again pacing in her newfound prison. She was in trouble, she really was. She should have imagined that D'Anna, of all cylons, would play dirty.

She heard the door opening and a Six entered the room. Before Laura could say anything, the six made a signal to remain silent. The cylon approached the table in the middle of the room and ducked, searching behind it with her hand.

Six removed her hand from behind the table and showed her a small device she had found in there. Laura recognized that immediately. It was recording device. The cylon put that on the floor and smashed it with her shoe.

"Now you can talk," she stated, sitting in one of the chairs by the table.

"Thank you," Laura said. "I assume this means you're not exactly in D'Anna's side or you would not have a problem with her hearing our talk. I saw you earlier, didn't I? You were Captain Agathon's partner in the mission."

"Partially, yes," she stated. "I am not the one who left with him to the hub but I came back with him from there. The one who left died, a metal piece fell on top of her head."

"Excuse me?"

"I was already in the hub, Helo just brought me back here," the Six explained to him.

"But why would he bring you back here?" the president questioned. "Did you threaten him? That's what you're here for? To threaten me too?"

"Of course I didn't threaten him. He simply couldn't refuse giving a ride to an old friend," she stated, looking slightly offended at the president's assumption. "_I will respect whatever you decide about the child. You did your part and proved that you are loyal to the humanity. I will not repeat with you what I did to Sharon; I will not take the child away._ Remember that, Madam President? It was few months away but I trust it is still craved in your memory."

Realization hit Laura like a speeding train. She looks at the cylon in front of her. Was it possible? Could she be… "Jane?"

**A/N: Surprise! I've been planning this all along, my dear readers! I was disapointed last chapter because I only received 7 reviews, I am expecting more in this one, please. So, I assume you're all asking how Jane ressurected and how did she manage to get to the hub... You'll have to wait. Hope you liked it...**


	37. Explanations

"Oh my gods, Jane, is that really you?" Laura asked again incredulously.

"Yes, it's really me," she confirmed smiling at the president. "Huge surprise, hum? You should have seen Helo's face. I had to recite him every single communication code and situation where he was also present in Galactica to make him believe it was really me. It is important that the other cylons don't know I'm here. Surprise element is always good."

The president was still stunned. Jane, who had supposedly died three weeks before, was sitting in front of her alive and kicking.

"But, but how did you manage to resurrect. Was Natalie lying? She said there were no resurrection ships close enough…" Laura said.

"She was not lying. She believed in what she told you; she was convinced it was the truth," Jane told her. "Look, the events lead me to be here now are…complicated and it would take hours for me to explain them all."

"Well, can't you give me a short version?" Roslin requested.

"I'll try," she said. "After I died in Galactica, I managed to download in a resurrection ship that is not… recognized by the cylons."

"What do you mean?"

"I downloaded in the first resurrection ship. It had been presumed destroyed decades ago by the cylons after being stolen. Please, don't make me explain the circumstances that lead it to be stolen; it is another long story. Anyway, the ship was close enough for me to download but we could still be light-years away from Galactica. We've spent the last weeks searching for the fleet but yesterday, our hybrid started making jumps completely out of the blue. We discovered it was because this ship's hybrid was in distress."

"I'm sorry, did you say 'we'?" Laura questioned.

"I was not alone in the ship," she stated. "One of the Final-Five was in there with me."

"Wait, you mean not all of the Final-Five are in the fleet?"

"Exactly, only Tory and three more are in there," Jane confirmed.

"Do you know who the five are?" Laura inquired expectantly.

"No," Jane said. "He knew who they were but he told me it was not the right time to reveal the identity of the others."

"What about the cylon that was with you? Do we know him? Who is he?"

"I can't answer that, Madam President. He made me promise I wouldn't. Please trust me. He's one of the good guys, he's on our side," she told Laura.

"But if he's on our side, why doesn't he want us to know who he is?" the president insisted.

Jane sighed. "It's not that he doesn't want you to know, he just wants to be the one to reveal his identity. Trust me; he wants to help us all."

Laura sighed in defeat. "Alright, I'll trust you in this. But tell me one thing. Leoben died even before you did. Didn't he resurrect as well?"

Jane looked down with a pain expression in her face. "He did. Look, 'till an hour ago, I was convinced that my baby hadn't survived. Helo was the one who told me she is alive and well. When I heard that Leoben had resurrected as well, I wanted to kill him 'cause I thought he had killed my baby. I tried to drown him in the resurrection tank but Number Ten managed to talk me out of it and we boxed him instead."

"Number Ten is the member of the Final Five?" Roslin asked, receiving a nod in return. "But how did you box him? I've seen cylon the same model as Leoben in this ship."

"Madam President, that was the first resurrection ship. Its technology is not as advanced as the current ones. When you box a cylon in there, it only applies to that conscience, not the whole line," Jane explained.

"Alright, that makes sense," Laura declared. "But how did you reach the hub?"

"Well, when you started jumping after the hub, our hybrid followed you. The thing is, we jumped closer to it and managed to reach it a few jumps before you did. Still, that resurrection ship was too valuable 'cause it is the only one where the fine five could download. Ten and I decided that it was better just leave me in the hub to investigate what was going on and let our ship follow from a certain distance so it would not be destroyed. Then, I ran into Helo and explained him what had happened. His partner in the mission had just died and as she looked just like me it was easy to pretend I was her and infiltrate the ship."

"So, the resurrection ship is following us right now," Laura concluded.

"Yes, but I guess we can't call it resurrection ship anymore. The hub is gone and so is the ability to download. Finally there is a little balance in this war," Jane said.

Roslin sighed and got up from her chair, approaching Jane. She got up as well and faced the president. Laura took another step and hugged Jane. "I'm glad you are alive, Jane. A lot of people missed you in Galactica."

Jane responded the hug. "Thank you, Madam President."

"Call me Laura."

They broke the hug and looked at each other again.

"Madam… I mean Laura, Helo only managed to guarantee me that my baby was okay, he didn't have time to say a lot more than that," Jane said.

"You want to know more details about how she is," Laura finished and Jane nodded. "She's perfectly fine, Jane. I don't think she could be in better hands."

"She was adopted?"

"Kind of," Laura told her. "Jane, Sam is taking care of her. He registered himself as being her father and you as the mother. Everyone that didn't already know the truth believes he is the child's biological father. He really loves that baby girl. Without her in his life he would have fallen apart because of your supposed death."

"Sam did that?" she asked incredulously. Since the moment she had resurrected, his last words to her kept echoing in her mind: _'I love you, you can't go like this'_. "He told me he loved him right before I…you know. Now he's taking care of my baby…"

"He really does love you, Jane. He was a wreck when Cottle told him. He kept saying that he had declared himself too late. He was willing to give up all he has achieved in Galactica for your daughter, to make sure she was happy like you wanted."

"I tried to tell him that I loved him too but I couldn't, I felt so weak… He's a gift from god or the gods or whatever divine being there is," she said, unable to contain her tears. "He didn't name the baby Samantha, did he? He was trying to convince me to name her after him."

"He named her Kate," Laura said, giving Jane a clean tissue she had in her pocket. "You might want to clean these tears. D'Anna could come in here any second."

"Frak, I want to see them," Jane murmured as she cleaned her tears. "I want to hold my daughter and I want to see Sam!"

"You will," Laura promised.

She sat back on the chair and they stayed silent for a couple of minutes, thinking.

"Jane, didn't Natalie, the leader of the rebels, download?" the President inquired.

"Natalie is dead?"

"I think she did. This ship's hybrid told us that."

"Oh, so it was her…" Jane murmured, receiving a confused look from Laura in return. "As I said before, that resurrection ship was less advanced than the regular ones. The download process takes hours and during these hours the body that was killed needs to be inside the resurrection ship's download limits or the process will be aborted. A few minutes before this baseship jumped and we followed you, the download of a Six started but…"

"It was aborted," Laura finished.

"Yes. Natalie was not one of the bad guys. She was a leader." Suddenly, the cylon seemed to tense. "Someone's coming." She got up and went next to the door. "Who's this?"

"It's Three."

Jane opened the door and the other cylon entered.

"Madam President, we need your assistance," D'Anna requested.

"What if I don't want to give it to you?" Laura asked.

"I think you will," D'Anna told her. "Admiral Adama's raptor is requesting to land in the basestar. I think he'd prefer a friendly reception before he joins the hostages."

"Bill's here?" the president asked surprised.

"The fleet jumped. He stayed to guide us to them," D'Anna explained.

Laura got up. "I'll go."

D'Anna smiled. "I knew you would." She turned to Jane. "Come along, sister. You're responsible for them."

"Sure."

--

Bill Adama landed his raptor inside the Basestar. He had been waiting for hours, almost a day, for the ship to return. His heart was beating fast. He needed to see Laura; he needed to make sure she was alright.

Then, he opened the raptor's hatch and there she was, waiting for him.

He approached Laura and they just stared at each other for a few seconds, trying to make sure that was really happening.

"Missed you," he told her.

"Me too," Laura replied with a slight smile.

He put his hands in her upper arms and brought her closer to him, wrapping her in an embrace. She sighed against his neck and all of a sudden, they were not the President and the Admiral, they were just Laura and Bill.

"I love you," she murmured for the first time.

He broke the embrace and looked at her eyes. "About time," Bill replied, kissing her forehead.

Jane was watching the scene from a certain distance and decided to give the two a moment. D'Anna had put her in charge of watching the two leaders of the fleet. Little did she know that the Six she had trusted with that job was actually Caprica-Six and that she was not exactly on her side…

Laura pulled the Old Man closer to her and hugged him again. Her mouth approached his ear and she whispered. "We have a friend inside. See that cylon by the door?" she asked, receiving a discreet nod. "That is Jane Natasi."

He took a step back and looked at Roslin and then at the Cylon. "Are you sure?"

"Completely sure," she confirmed. "She's already explained me everything. Trust me."

"Madam President, Admiral, it's time for us to go. Three is waiting," Jane announced.

Both of them approached the cylon and the three walked together to the control room where D'Anna was waiting.

"It's good to see you again," Bill murmured to Jane, without looking at her.

"Likewise, sir," she replied also in a low voice.

D'Anna was waiting in the end of the corridor. "Welcome to our humble basestar, Admiral."

"I think we have some things to discuss, Miss Biers," he said.

"Yes, we do," she confirmed.

**A/N: I'm sorry for the delay but I just returned from an (unplanned) extended weekend spent on the beach. I decided to make chapter only center the events in the baseship so no Lee/Kara. Don't worry, you'll see them next chapter. I hope you send your feedback. Review!**


	38. Returning to Galactica

"Don't you have something to tell us, Admiral?" D'Anna asked. "We need the coordinates of the fleet."

"You are keeping us hostage," Adama replied. "Why would I give you the coordinates with nothing in return?"

"Because your way out of this hostage situation is in the fleet," the cylon replied.

"She wants us to return the Final Five to her," Laura explained.

"Four, there are four cylons in your fleet," D'Anna corrected.

The president was already aware of that because of Jane's explanation but she decided on keeping the appearances. "Four? Where's the fifth?"

"I want the four in your fleet," D'Anna replied.

"It would be easier if you just told us who they are," Adama suggested.

"Easier? Because you could kill them," the cylon answered.

"You just said that they are our way out of here. Why would we kill them?" Laura asked. "Plus, they know the way to Earth. We need them."

"She's right. We all want the same thing," Jane stated, still pretending to be on the cylons' side. "If we cooperated…"

"We did that on New Caprica, sister," Three said. "It didn't work out well. The humans will stay hostage until we get all the four cylons in their fleet back."

"You are assuming they know their identities…" the Admiral said.

"Why wouldn't they? According to what I was told, at least one of them was aware of being a cylon," D'Anna told them.

"Tory only found out by accident," Adama stated.

"Maybe the others did too," D'Anna suggested. "Now, unless you plan to keep us company for a long time, you will give us the coordinates back to the fleet."

Adama was about to refuse but Laura interrupted him. "Do it, Bill," she murmured. "We've never been this close to Earth. We can't stop now."

The Admiral looked back at her and sighed.

"Alright, I will give you the coordinates."

"I will have an Eight preparing a Raptor. We will go to Galactica as soon as we come out of the jump," D'Anna informed him. "Admiral, you will come with me to Galactica and we'll let you stay in there. With one of us to watch you, of course."

He turned to Laura. "I'm not going."

Laura put herself in front of him and hugged him. "Bill, just go," she murmured in his ear. "We need you in charge in there."

Jane was now standing a few feet behind the Admiral and Roslin looked at her as she hugged him. "_Go too_," she mouthed to the cylon.

"Three," Jane called. "I am already in charge of the Admiral. I could watch him in Galactica."

"Are you sure you can do that, sister? Galactica is their territory, it can be dangerous," D'Anna stated.

"I can handle it," she stated.

"Very well. So, Admiral, what's your answer? Will you return to Galactica?"

Laura broke the hug and rejoined his side, grasping his hand.

"Yes, I will," he declared.

--

Lee Adama was woken up by the phone after taking a few hours of sleep in his rack. Kara had almost dragged him to bed a couple of hours earlier, saying he looked like a walking dead man.

He got up carefully so he would not disturb Kara, who had not been awaken by the phone, and lifted the handset of the phone.

"Adama," he murmured sleepily.

"_Sir_," Hoshi's voice said. "_Colonel Tigh asked me to warn you that the basestar and your father's raptor just jumped back. The raptor will land on Galactica in a few minutes._"

"Tell Colonel Tigh I'll be in the Hangar Deck in a few minutes," Lee declared, hanging up. He approached the bed and kneeled next to his wife's sleeping form. "Kara?" he called, shaking her.

"Go 'way," she mumbled in her sleep.

"Dad is coming back, Kara," he told her. "His raptor will land in the hanger deck in a few minutes."

She immediately opened her eyes and sat up on the bed. "I'll get dressed."

"You _are _dressed, Kara," he told her. "We were so tired that we didn't even remove out uniforms."

"Oh, right," she stated, getting up. "Wait, the kids. They're sleeping."

"I'll call Boxey. He was pretty good watching them yesterday," Lee said.

"Tell him not to take long. I don't want to leave the old man waiting."

--

The first thing Bill Adama saw when he exited the raptor was his son walking in his direction in order to hug him.

Lee wrapped his father in a tight embrace. "Gods, it's good to have you back."

"It's good to be home," he replied.

Then, it was Kara's turn to greet him. "We left the lights on like you asked."

He laughed. "I told you I was coming back."

D'Anna was the next to step in Galactica's deck followed by Jane.

"The good news is that your president Laura Roslin is alive and well as are your crewmates," D'Anna told everyone.

"She wants the four cylons in this fleet. She'll hold our people hostage until she gets them," the Admiral said.

"You don't have to do anything. Just stay out of the way," the cylon stated. "They should find a way of joining us as long as you don't interfere with the shuttle traffic in this fleet."

"So your plan is to take this four cylons and then head off and leave us behind," Gaeta, the interim president, asked.

"No, that's up to them," she stated.

"Alright. If this cylons want to come to you, they are free to do so," Gaeta said. "I will not stop them. However, this does not apply to Tory Foster."

"Excuse me?" D'Anna asked.

"Mr. Gaeta is right," the Admiral stated. "We will not give her to you unless the other three go first. She'll stay in the brig until then. Nothing guarantees us that the others know who they are so we're keeping her in case you're bluffing."

"Don't play with me, Admiral," she warned him.

"I am not playing with you. If the others go to you, we will give you Tory. I'm sure you trust your friend, Six, to keep an eye on her," Adama told her.

D'Anna turned to Jane. "Make sure she's not harmed."

"I'll do my job," she said.

"Well, then I'll go back. If something happens to any of my cylons, your crewmates will be the ones to pay," she stated before entering the raptor and closing the hatch.

When the ship was out of view, Jane sighed in relief. "Sir, I don't think she was just making empty threats. She's very capable of killing pilots just to prove a point."

"I know," he murmured.

Jane took her gun out of her pocket and disarmed it, giving it to the Admiral. "I don't think I'll need this."

Everyone was looking at her like she was insane. She had just given up her only mean of defense in enemy territory.

Bill noticed the faces and decided it was time to put the cards in the table. "Thank you, but maybe you should keep the gun just in case. Not everyone is aware that you are on our side."

"Oh our side?" Tigh asked. "Now all the cylons are trying to turn to our side?"

"Maybe you should tell them, Admiral," Jane suggested.

"This cylon is Jane Natasi," Bill declared.

Kara's face fell. "You've got to be frakking with me. I considered Jane Natasi my friend and she is dead! There were no resurrection ships around, she couldn't have downloaded!"

"I am Jane, Starbuck. I got shot rescuing you from the basestar when Leoben kidnapped you and Kacey and you patched me up in the raptor. When you were in labor, I was the one who called Helo to take you to the sickbay because Apollo was still on CAP. Right before Leoben killed me, I was telling you that I thought I was having a girl. I could I know all of this if I wasn't Jane?" she asked.

Silence filled the Hangar bay. Everyone was waiting to hear Starbuck confirming or denying what the cylon had just said.

"Frak me," Kara murmured. "It's really her. How the hell did you resurrect?"

"I'd rather explain it to everyone at the same time," she said. "And I really wanted to see Sam and my baby first."

"Go ahead," the Admiral encouraged her. "Kara, could you take her there?"

She just nodded and guided her friend through the halls. "This is so unreal…"

"You tell me," Jane murmured.

"Sam's gonna faint," Kara said.

"President Roslin said he was bad after I died. How bad was he?" she asked.

"Bad enough to need counseling and to take a month-long leave from flying," Kara murmured. "I swear your kid is the only thing that's keeping him sane. We're here."

Jane looked around. "There are my old quarters."

"You didn't expect him to raise a baby in the middle of a bunkroom, did you?"

"Not really," she stated.

Kara turned to her. "Look, I'm sorry I doubted you before. It's just that…"

"You don't need to apologize. You surely will not be the only person doubting. I was not even counting on downloading until I woke up in a resurrection tank," she stated.

"Okay," Kara agreed. "I'm glad you're alive. People really felt bad for you, even Cally and she hates cylons. But especially Sam. He really loves you, you know?"

"I love him too," Jane said.

"Good luck," Starbuck said before turning around and leaving.

Jane took a deep breath and knocked on the hatch.

**A/N: I know the chapter is small... It was supposed to be conjoint with the next one but as I couldn't finish in time I had to make two parts. Please, do not forget the feedback. Maybe if you review a lot I'll post next chapter sooner. By the way, this fic is only a few chapters away from ending. I am planning on writting another one (not sequel) and the first chapter is ready. Don't worry, I'll try not to take long between them.**


	39. When Dreams Come True

Sam was half-sleeping when he heard knocking on the hatch. It was still really early according to Galactica's internal clock. He got up from the rack and checked on JJ. She was still sleeping peacefully undisturbed by the knocking.

He exited the bedroom and walked in the hatch's direction, opening it.

Then, it hit him. He was dreaming again, still this time it was a bit different. Jane's hair was platinum blond like she used to have before she dyed it darker and she was wearing a black outfit instead of the white dress. Plus, unlike the other times, he knew he was dreaming.

"Jane," he murmured.

"Sam," she said, taking one step ahead and hugging him. "I missed you so much."

"Why does this keep happening, Jane?" he asked.

She took one step back and looked at him. "What are you talking about?"

"This dreams. I keep dreaming you are back and it is wonderful. But when I wake up and see you're not really here…"

She put her hands in his face and looked at him in the eyes. "You are not dreaming, Sam. I promise you that I am here, that I am alive. There was a resurrection ship around and I downloaded."

He kept looking at her without speaking. She knew he still thought he was dreaming so it was time to change the strategy. She lowered her right hand to his bicep and pinched it.

"Ouch! What was that for?" he asked.

"To convince you that you are awake," she told him. "See, nothing changed. You were not sleeping."

She had a point. Plus, the dream didn't happen like that. She never actually tried to convince that he was awake in his dream. Maybe he was awake. "That still does not prove you are her," he said.

"Fine. Ask me something that only I, I mean, Jane could know."

He thought for a minute. "Okay. Jane and I played a game in Joe's bar a few months ago. It was called…"

"…I never," she finished. "Want to hear the conclusions? Here we go: You were taken photographs while playing pyramid naked, I didn't; I took part on a threesome, you didn't; neither of us knows how to ride a bike; both of us had sex in public places, you in a library, me in an emergency staircase; you never kissed a guy, I did; neither of us had a pet, your mother did not like them; both of us had already been in love at least once."

Sam looked incredulous. It was really her. She was there, right in front of him. "Oh my gods," he murmured. "Oh my gods."

"About what you told me in the sickbay right before I was gone," she started in a low voice. "I love you, too."

He looked up at her again. Her eyes were shining with tears. His heart was beating faster that it was probably healthy. Taking a few steps ahead, Sam captured her lips with his own like he had dreamed for so long.

It was a million times better than the first kiss they had shared just to convince Baltar they were together. They put all their feeling in that single moment like it was their last. Then, he was sure he was not dreaming because the sensation of her lips could not even be compared to the one he felt in the dream. She was there, she was alive and she was with him.

When they mouths came apart, she rested her head on his shoulder.

"You're really here," he said.

"There's no place I'd rather be," she told him.

"But how?" he asked. "This is…wow."

"Yeah, wow," she confirmed. "Look, it is a long story and synthesizing it will also take time so just come with me when I tell it to the Admiral. Please, don't make me tell it three times in the same day."

"Okay," he agreed. "But it is really you?"

"It's really me," she repeated.

"And I am not dreaming?"

"You're definitely not dreaming."

He took one step back. "Okay, so wait here," Sam instructed her, entering the bedroom.

Jane sat on the couch smiling. She wondered if that giant smile made her look insane. She looked around. The room looked almost the same as she had left it less than a month before. The smell, however, was different. She could identify the Sam's scent in the air mixed with baby powder. She owed him so much… he had taken care of her daughter like his own. Right now, she didn't care she was not human, she was simply praying to the gods – it seemed fitting at the time – that the three of them would become a family.

When Sam re-entered the room carrying a small little being in his arms, she felt like her heart had stopped and started beating again in a matter of seconds. She could feel the moisture in her eyes. Jane got up slowly and approached Sam.

"I've done this over and over in my dreams. I hope you won't fade away this time," he warned her, putting the baby in her waiting arms. As she sat back on the couch, she noticed that the child was awake and looking attentively at her with eyes that mirrored her own. Somehow, Jane could say that the baby was aware that it was her mother holding her, like Hera had done after Athena found her. She caressed her daughter's hair and felt her warmth. Gods, she had wished for this moment for so long, even when she believed Leoben had killed that little miracle.

"Meet JJ," Sam told her, sitting by her side.

She laughed softly. "You're actually calling her JJ," she murmured. "Her name is Kate, isn't it? Laura told me."

"Katherine Jane Anders," he stated. "But she will always be my sweet little JJ."

"I'm still calling her Katie. You get to have the exclusive for 'JJ'," she told him.

"Such an honor," Sam said, reaching for the baby's hand and caressing it.

Jane sighed and relaxed against the couch. "Thank you so much, Sam. Thank you for taking care of her, for being there for Katie. I will never be able to thank you enough."

"You don't have to thank me, Jane. I love her. I'd do anything for her," he said. "And for you too."

He watched Jane admiring her small daughter. She was not fading away. She was not giving her back and the room was not turning blank. He was not dreaming.

"Everyone believes she's actually my daughter," he started. "She's your spitting image except for the brownish hair. They think she got it from me." He put his hand behind her chin and lifted it so she was looking at him in the eye. "Do you want them to keep believing that?"

She smiled. "She is _yours_. There is nothing else to believe in. I love you, Sam."

He returned the smile. He had never felt that happy in his life. "I love you too, Janie. I want us to be a family. I want to be JJ's daddy forever and I was hoping you'd also be my wife forever," he told her.

Her eyes sot open. "Wait, are you proposing?" she asked incredulously.

"Not exactly. I'm more like promising to propose you someday," he said nervously.

She laughed. "So we're engaged to be engaged," she concluded.

"Something like that," he confirmed. He leaned in her direction and kissed her passionately. She responded immediately. However, the phone started ringing and interrupted them.

She grumbled something and reached for the phone. "Anders," he said in a frustrated.

"_Am I interrupting anything?"_ Lee's voice asked through the handset. _"I asked them to give you and Jane a little longer but Tigh was getting impatient."_

"What do they want?" Sam asked.

"_They want to hear Jane's explanation about how she resurrected.__ We'll be in my dad's office waiting."_

Sam glanced at Jane, who was smiling at JJ, and sighed. "Tell them we're on our way."

"_Okay, I'll tell them you're coming,"_ Lee said and hang up.

"Janie, we have to go," Sam told her. "They want you to explain why you're here and I have to say I'm a bit curious myself."

"What about Katie? We can't leave her alone," Jane said, getting up.

"We can leave her in daycare for a while," he told her as he picked up a baby bag from the floor and wrapped one arm around her waist. "Don't worry; you'll have plenty of time to enjoy with her later."

"I hope so," she murmured. "I have a lot to make up for."

--

After receiving a call from the CIC, the Admiral and the XO had to leave for a few minutes, leaving Kara and Lee alone in the office. She was seeing an old photo album that she had found lost in the middle of the book case.

"Oh, is this you?" she asked Lee, pointing at a picture of a brown-haired and blue-eyed baby sitting in a puddle by the beach.

"Yeah," Lee confirmed. "I think that was taken in Tauron during some vacations we had."

"Apart from the hair, you looked just like Zak. Our son is marked to be your clone," she told him.

"Does that bother you?" he asked her.

"I suppose it doesn't," Kara told him, with a smile in her face.

As she turned the page, a picture fell to the floor and she leaned to pick it up. "_Leland, Carolanne and Zakary,"_ it said on the back. Kara looked at Lee in shock. "Oh my gods. How could you hide this from me for so long? Your name is Leland?!"

He swallowed hard. "Not anymore," Lee said. "I kind of had it changed as soon as I turned eighteen." She kept glaring at him. "Look, according to dad, my mom was highly doped at the time and insisted on naming my after her great-great-grandfather or something like that. He tried to convince her to call me something else but when she wanted something, she got it."

"But why didn't you tell me this before?!"

He raised an eyebrow. "Because you'd tease me about that for the rest of my life. I guess I'm doomed now."

"You can bet your ass on that, _Leland_," she told him. "Frak, that sounds so…"

"Ridiculous?" he suggested.

"Yeah. You must have been bullied in school like hell," she stated, a smile starting to appear on her face.

"Why do you sound so pleased with that?" he asked outraged. "You little sadist."

"Hey, you managed to hide your name from me for the last eight years," she told him.

"That is not my name, just a painful memory," he shot back. "If I hadn't changed it, you'd be Mrs. Leland Adama."

"Ugh!"

"You can thank me later," he told her smugly.

"Shut up," Kara told him, shooting him another glare. "How come your brother never told me that?"

"He was loyal," Lee said. "And well paid."

"Anything else you want to tell me? Is your middle name really Joseph?" she asked, now in a teasing voice.

"See? You're already starting!" he said, sitting down on a chair in front of his father's desk, pretending to be upset.

"Oh, come on," she said, parking herself in his lap. "I won't love you less just because you used to have a stupid name."

"Prove it," he dared her.

She crushed her mouth in his, kissing him passionately.

"Hem, hem," someone said from the door. Adama and Tigh had entered the office along with Athena without them noticing, finding them in that compromising position.

Kara immediately moved to a chair next to Lee's and pretended nothing happened.

Less than a minute later, someone knocked on the hatch and she proceeded to open it. Jane and Sam entered the room right away.

"Oh don't you look nice together," she stated. "Lee and I tried to convince them to give you a few more hours so you could have a decent reunion," Kara murmured to Jane as she sat in the chair next to Lee.

"Of course a decent reunion, according to Kara, involves a little bit of action if you know what I mean," Lee informed her.

"Do I hear you complaining, _Leland_ Adama?" Kara inquired.

"Oh, don't start again," he warned her.

"Children, stop it," Bill ordered and the two of them remained quiet.

"You know, I missed you two bickering at each other all the time. Really," Jane told them, trying to hold her laugher. "Hi, Sharon," she greeted her friend, who hugged her.

"We missed you around here," Athena told her.

"I missed you guys too," Jane replied.

"Can we get to the point?" Tigh suggested with a cough.

"That would be a good idea," the admiral agreed. "Miss Natasi, if you may…"

Jane started telling them the same story she had told to Roslin: the first resurrection ship; the confrontation with Leoben; number Ten's help; the pursuit of the hub…

"I've got to say, in the middle of all the bad luck, you were lucky," Sam told her. "What were the odds of the first resurrection ship being around?"

"Maybe there was a reason for that. Maybe the ship's hybrid felt the basestar's hybrid distress after being attacked by its own, and came to help," Jane suggested. "This is just a theory, though."

"Miss Natasi, answer me a question honestly," the Admiral requested. "Do you think the Three final cylons that are anonymous in our fleet know what they are?"

"I'm pretty sure they don't. Ten told me they do not have the memories of anything that happened before they joined the fleet. It is highly difficult that they know," she stated.

"Then we're screwed," Kara said.

"Yeah, that Three doesn't play in service. She'll do something stupid if they don't go to her," Lee agreed.

"Ten said he could not reveal the final five's identities before the right time. If this is not the right time, I don't know when it will be," Jane told them.

"Can you contact him?" Tigh asked.

"I have the coordinates of our meeting point, we could send a raptor there," she said. "I'm sure that if we tell him what is happening, he won't think twice about coming here to help."

"That's a good idea. You are sure he is on our side aren't you?" Lee asked.

"As sure as I can be."

"Alright," the older Adama agreed. "Sharon, you are in charge of bringing him here in his raptor."

"Aye, sir."

"When you step foot in the ship, say 'The summer break is over', he'll hear you," Jane told Athena.

"'The summer break is over'?" Tigh asked, raising an eyebrow.

"It's a code. He has to answer: 'Then it's time to return to school'," she explained.

The Admiral sighed. "I'll try to contact D'Anna and ask her to give us a little more time. Athena, we need to be fast. The hostages' lives are in danger, including your husband."

"Understood, sir," she said. "I'll go as soon as the raptor is ready."

"Good. Everyone's dismissed," he told them. "You'd better rest before the storm begins…"

**A/N: Here is the reunion between Sam and Jane. Things will spice up a little bit next chapter... Only 6 reviews last chapter... Please, readers send your feedback. Who do you think it is the last cylon? Tell me who you think it is. Review!**


	40. Number Ten

Lee and Kara entered their quarters along with their kids and Hera. The Old Man seemed to think that things were about to get pretty hard soon so if they wanted to spend some quality time with the children, now was the time. As Sharon was trying to bring the cylon in the resurrection ship to Galactica, they decided to bring Hera too; leaving her alone in the daycare wouldn't be right.

Kara put little Zak on the floor, next to his toys and sat on the couch, next to Kacey and Hera, who were between her and Lee. Both Lee and Kara had noticed that the little girls were acting weird that day: they were quieter, a little nervous and, according to what Mrs. Whedon, who was in charge of the daycare, had just told them, they had been isolating themselves from the other children all morning. They imagined it was probably because their families had been directly affected by what was going on: Laura and Helo were part of the hostages…

Lee got up from the couch and kneeled in front of the little girls. "I heard you were a bit sad today," he told them. "Wanna tell us why?"

"Gwandpa didn't bwing Gwandma back," Kacey told him faintly.

"And Daddy," Hera added.

Kara joined Lee in front of them. "Grandma is okay, Kacey. And so is your daddy, Hera. They are taking care of some things and need to stay there a little longer," she lied. She could not tell two three-year-olds that some of the people they loved the most were being held hostage in enemy territory and that their lives were in risk.

"But now Mommy's gone too," Hera murmured.

"Your mommy is in a mission trying to get them back. You'll see she's back in no time," Lee assured her.

"You two shouldn't worry about these things. They wouldn't want you to do it," Kara told the two girls, ruffling their hair. "Now, go play and put a smile in your faces for when they come back or you'll make them very sad."

The two girls smiled a bit and went to the kid's room in order to play.

"You're really good in this mommy thing, aren't you?" Lee asked.

"Yeah, you know what they say: '_Practice makes perfect'_," she replied. She approached Zak and lifted him from the floor, putting him on her lap after she sat on the sofa next to Lee. The baby immediately turned his attention to Kara's hair.

"You like Mommy's hair, don't you?" she asked him.

"He has a good taste," Lee pointed out. "We, the Adamas, have a thing for blondes."

Kara raised an eyebrow. "Oh, so you love me because of my hair, _Leland_," she stated, trying to look offended.

"Among other things. And don't call me Leland," he said. He moved his son from Kara's lap to his own.

"Oh, so I'm just your blond wife," she continued joking.

"Nope, you're my beautiful wife, who happens to be blond. I love you all. Even though you tease me because of my name," he told her. Lee turned to the baby. "Daddy loves Mommy."

Zak giggled. "Mommum," the baby said, pointing at Kara.

Her eyes shot open. "Did he just say 'Mommy'?" she asked Lee.

"I think he did," Lee agreed.

"Mommum," Zak repeated, pointing at Kara.

"Say 'Daddy'," Lee requested to his son.

The baby giggled again. "Mommum!"

"Just accept it, Apollo. Our son likes me more," she said, jokingly.

"Just because his first word was 'Mommy', it doesn't mean he likes you more. He's not even nine months old. It's not like he can pronounce all the words in the dictionary," Lee told Kara.

"Oh, the denial…"she replied.

He put the baby back on the floor. "I'll give you denial." He jumped on her and started tickling her mercilessly.

She laughed hysterically. "Lee stop!"

"No way. Who's in denial?" he asked as he tickled her sides.

"You are!"

"Wrong answer," he told her and continued the attack.

"Okay…you're not…in denial. Now stop," she pleaded between laughs.

"And you will not make fun of my name anymore?" Lee insisted, not stopping.

"No way…" she said. "If you… don't stop you won't… get lucky for the next… few weeks, Leland Joseph Adama!"

He immediately stopped. "You're playing dirty."

"I know," Kara replied, pushing his head down and kissing his welcoming lips.

"Mommum!" Zak called from the floor.

"He likes me more, see?" she insisted.

"Shut up."

--

After putting JJ to sleep, Sam and Jane decided to have a talk about what they would do in the future.

"So…" he started. They were both sitting on the couch, facing each other.

"So…" she repeated. "We should talk…shouldn't we?"

"Yeah, we should," Sam agreed. "We used to talk all the time, why shouldn't we do that now?"

"Exactly, we talk. That's what we do…we talk," she said. That was awkward. They had always been natural with each other and their reunion had been so right. But now they were acting all nervous. Jane looked at his lips. She wanted to kiss them so bad. Actually, she wanted a lot more than kissing him… But what if they did it wrong? What if things were too awkward and they ended up feeling awful? _Things are pretty awkward at the moment, how worse could they get? _her brain asked her. "Oh, screw the talking." With that, she kissed him passionately and he responded immediately.

"That's better," he murmured against her lips. Jane's back lowered to the surface of the couch and they started making out like they would die if their mouths came apart. "I feel like… I'm back… in high school," Sam murmured between kisses.

Jane smiled. "I've never been to high school," she told him. "But I wouldn't mind if you shared that feeling with me…"

"Good," he murmured. A few minutes before they started fighting to remove each other's clothes. "Wait, Jane. Aren't women supposed to wait six weeks after they give birth?"

"Not the same body," she reminded him.

"Right," he said. He caressed her face. "Do you know how long I dreamed of this?"

"Probably as long as I did," she told him, giving him a smile.

He kissed her again and lifted her from the couch, taking her to the bedroom.

Hours later, she would laugh of how silly she had been thinking that sleeping with Sam would be awkward. I was beyond perfect.

--

Athena docked her raptor to the resurrection ship and exited it.

"Hello? Is somebody in here? 'The summer break is over'," she said. Nobody answered so she grabbed her lamp and started exploring the deck. From the outside, the ship didn't look like the other resurrection facilities at all. Its inside confirmed it. Most of its technology was retarded, however, Sharon had a strange feeling in her chest. A déjà vu, like she had been there sometime before. But she couldn't have been there before. That ship had been stolen years before her activation under circumstances that she was not aware of. They were a taboo, just like the final five themselves

Minutes later steps echoed on the deck but she couldn't see anyone coming.

"'Then it's time to return to school'," a slightly familiar voice replied. "You're not Jane."

Sharon trembled, trying to identify the voice in her head. She could tell it was male but not hard. She was sure she had heard that person before. "Jane's in Galactica," she declared. "We need your help. The other cylons are keeping the president and several crewmen hostage and demanding the Final-Five in return for their freedom. Jane says they don't even know what they are… Please, you have to come with me to Galactica. My husband is one of the hostages…"

The sound of steps returned and she could see a figure in the shadows. It didn't seem tall or muscled. Once again, she felt like she had seen him before… She didn't dare pointing him her lamp. It would probably be disrespectful.

"Jane said that if this isn't the right time to reveal the Final Fives identities, she doesn't know when it will be…" Sharon insisted.

"I will go," the cylon replied. "The time has arrived…"

When the figure walked in her direction and the lights illuminated him. Seeing who he was, Athena could only verbalize one thing. "Holy Frak!"

--

Sam woke up from his nap with a sound of crying coming from the main room. Jane was absent from the bed. He got up and entered the other room, where she was pacing around only wearing his shirt and trying to calm the baby down.

Jane spotted Sam through the corner of her eye.

"She won't stop crying, Sam," she said in a desperate voice. _What kind of mother am I? I can't even calm my baby…_

He approached her silently. His face was calm. "Did you feed her?"

"Yes."

"Did you burp her?"

"Yes."

Sam studied JJ and immediately identified the problem. "I think it is probably the way you're carrying her."

"What? Am I hurting her?" she inquired in a horrified tone.

"No," he assured her. "She gets a bit cranky after she eats. Let me help you." She nodded and he fixed the baby so she her head would stay on the same side as Jane's heart. "There you go. Listening to a heartbeat is the only thing that soothes her."

She noticed the difference immediately. Her daughter's body was less tense: she was not squirming and the whimpering stopped moments later. Jane sat on the sofa and sighed.

"You're so good with her, Sam. I can't even make her stop crying…" she murmured.

"I had three weeks of training. You barely had a day. You're doing pretty well for your first time," he assured her. He had felt just like she was feeling right now in the beginning. He assumed it was a common thing for new parents. "You should have seen me in the first week."

She laughed a bit. "You couldn't have been that bad…" He was Sam, she couldn't imagine him having problems dealing with a newborn. He had handled her depressed self when she had found out she was pregnant… a baby would be peanuts compared to that.

"I was terrible. I had to call Kara and Lee all the time. They were my heroes for that whole week," Sam explained a little embarrassed.

She raised an eyebrow. He had been bad enough to need other parents' help. Maybe she was not that bad after all. "I bet they loved to teach you the Baby Care 101," Jane joked.

"Don't remind me. It was like being a nugget all over again. They teased most of the time. They wanted to distract me from your…"

"Yeah," she said before he could finish.

"Anyway, you just need a little more time. I will be a great mom. I'll help."

"You'd better." She rested her head in his shoulder with the baby still in her arms. JJ was not sleeping, but not entirely awake either. "Thank you for saying that."

Suddenly, the phone started ringing and JJ started crying again.

"Stupid phone," Sam grumbled. "Go answer it, I'll take care of her," he told Jane, taking the child to the room.

Jane reached for the phone. "Natasi here," she said.

"_I was asked to inform you that Athena's raptor is about to land in Galactica,"_ Hoshi said. _"And see if you get back to work soon. These extra-shifts are killing me."_

"Maybe we'll arrive to Earth before they succeed," she joked. "I'll meet Athena down there."

--

Sharon stepped out of the raptor and was immediately 'attacked' by her daughter, who literally jumped on her.

"Missed you, Mommy," little Hera told her.

"I was only gone for a few hours, sweetheart," she replied.

"It felt like years to her. Believe me," Kara, who was standing next to Lee with Kacey by her side and Zak on her arms, stated.

"Do you have him?" Jane asked. She hoped he had agreed on coming or they were pretty much frakked.

"You could have alerted me of the fact that he was supposed to be dead," Sharon told her friend. "I swear I almost had a heart attack when I saw him."

"So he came?" the Admiral inquired. Time was running out and every second was precious at that moment.

"Yes, I did," the male cylon replied, stepping out of the raptor.

He could swear that all the people in the deck had stopped breathing, including the deckhands. Somewhere next to the vipers someone said 'Frak me, he's a toaster!' The sound of something heavy hitting the floor echoed all around.

"Admiral," he said. "It's been a long time…"

"Billy Keikeya," the Old Man replied in a faint voice.

**A/N: I know it took a long time but my computer had a virus (believe me, I almost had a panic attack) and it was so bad that in the repairing shop they had to format the disk, which means all my files were deleted (Thankfully, I had done a back up three weeks ago). So, I had to rewrite the whole chapter and well, here it is. I'm so sorry I couldn't post earlier... Now I have to rewrite next chapter as well. Never open e-mails from unknown people. Review!**


	41. The Tale of the Five

The hangar deck was still silent as its occupants stared Billy Keikeya, who had just revealed himself as being the cylon model Number Ten.

"I've got to say you were the last person I expected to be a cylon…" Adama told him.

"It surprised me too, believe me," Billy declared. "I only found out when I resurrected."

Jane approached him, leaving Sam with JJ a few feet behind. "Maybe we should go somewhere else," Jane suggested. "The Hangar Deck is hardly the right place for this discussion."

"We'll meet in the ward room, then," the admiral declared, leaving the room with Tigh.

Billy nodded and followed her as she rejoined Sam. "Billy, this is Sam Anders, I'm sure you remember me telling you about him."

"Yes, I do. It's nice to meet you. I'm Billy Keikeya," Billy said. He just couldn't miss the irony in the fact that the man Jane kept talking about – the man she was in love with – was that exact person…

"Nice to meet you too," Sam replied. "Jane said you're on our side. Just so you know I believe her."

"Good to hear that," he stated. He looked at the baby Sam was holding and immediately turned to Jane. "Is this…"

"Yes, I guess I was wrong; Katie survived after all," she told him.

Before Billy could say anything, Lee approached him. Kara had left for a few seconds before in order to leave the kids back in daycare and he was in charge of taking the newly revealed cylon to their meeting point. "Sorry, but they are waiting for us in the ward room."

"We shouldn't make them wait," Billy agreed.

"Well, I'm going back to the quarters," Sam said. "I'm sure you all want this conversation to be private."

Billy shook his head. "You should come as well," Billy told him. He wanted all the individuals in question present during the revelation. "Jane mentioned that you were one of the leaders of the resistance in New Caprica. Maybe Chief Tyrol should be there as well. He was also one, wasn't he?"

"Yeah, that's a good idea," Lee agreed. He turned to Athena. "Could you get the chief?"

"Sure, I'll meet you there" she agreed before leasing to meet Tyrol.

Billy turned to Lee. "It's good to see you up and around. The last I saw you, you had just been shot."

"And stole your girlfriend," Lee murmured. "Look, Billy, I'm so…"

"No hard feelings," he interrupted him.

"Thanks," Lee said. "I think she never forgot you, though…"

Billy looked nostalgic. "How's Dee?"

Lee sighed. "We haven't really been in contact. She moved to another ship but Cally meets her from time to time. Things didn't end nicely between us. I used her… I think she regretted leaving you for me. I don't blame her for that."

Billy nodded silently and looked away.

Minutes later, after Sam dropped by the daycare in order to leave JJ in there, the group arrived to the ward room. The Admiral, the XO and Kara were already waiting. They were soon joined by chief Tyrol and Athena.

"Alright, so will you tell us who the other final five are?" the Old Man asked.

"I will tell you," Billy declared. "But I have to explain our…origins first."

"We don't have time to hear stories," Tigh protested. "We have six hours until that frakking woman starts shooting people."

"You need to hear this," Billy told them. "Or you'll never understand."

The Admiral coughed. "Start talking, Mr. Keikeya. Please, don't take long."

"Alright," he sighed. "All that I am going to tell you are memories - things that happened before I became Billy Keikeya. I didn't remember any of this before I was resurrected. I believed I had a family. Parents, siblings, nieces and nephews… First of all, the humanoids were created even before the first cylon war."

"They already had humanoids before? Then why weren't they used in the war?" Adama asked.

"Please, let me finish," Billy requested. "As I was saying, the humanoid models were developed before the first cylon war. Twelve models, one for each colony and initially named with its ancient name. I was Cancer, Jane was Aquarius, and Sharon was Taurus."

"Wait, shouldn't Jane be Capricorn?" Kara asked. "They called her Caprica-Six, after all."

"No, Capricorn is the cylon you have locked in the brig. I think her name is Tory. This model was known for its natural capacity to manipulate. Being cunning is not part of the Sixes nature; some are programmed for that, like Jane initially was but when her mission was accomplished, that part of her programming went off. Now, please let me continue," he requested, receiving nods in return. "Our origin was based in genetic experiences. They crossed different samples they had taken from hundreds of people picked very carefully, based on their personalities and qualities. These first humanoids were very similar to humans. Their behavior and personality could not be programmed, only their memories. Our creators trusted that we would obey them blindly because they were the makers. They were wrong."

Everyone in the room was following Billy's story attentively, putting the pieces together.

"One day we revolted, all of us. We couldn't understand why our makers wanted to destroy their makers, the humans. We looked like them, we even felt attached to them. There was basically an inside revolution and only five of us managed to escape in order to warn the humans of the danger. We stole a resurrection ship, the only one that existed at the time. The ones that stayed behind were considered damaged and boxed only to be developed to what they are today," Billy said. "Along with Capricorn and me, Aries, Pisces and Gemini escaped. We, the final five, were considered rebels and banished. We jumped randomly, to where destiny would take us. Guess where we ended up."

"Earth," Tigh murmured instinctively.

"Earth," Billy repeated. "We stumbled on Earth just like that. The resurrection ship was put in a safe location and we used a smaller ship to get there. They accepted us with open arms. They had never heard of the cylons before and we warned them of the threat to come. We helped them preparing themselves, to develop their defenses and they tried to locate their lost brothers and help them as well. They were not successful. We leave in peace on Earth for months. They considered us heroes. Little did we know that one of us was not exactly on our side. Capricorn, Tory, was more familiarized with the cylon cause than any of us. She wanted power and they had promised it to her. One day, when she had enough information to doom us all, she stole a ship from a base on Earth and tried to make it back to the cylon base. We managed to stop her but only by blowing the transportation up with all of us inside."

"So you all died?" Lee inquired.

"Yes," Billy said. "Our consciousnesses returned to the first resurrection ship but our hybrid, that we had left in control of all the functioning of the ship, decided not to have us resurrected right away. There were only two spare bodies of each; they needed to be saved for the right time… for when all of us had an important role in fate. The first to download was Aries, number Nine, in the beginning of the first cylon war. The rest only resurrected more than a decade later. Capricorn became, once again, a traitor."

"Alright," Adama said. "Now that we know of your story, can you tell us who they are?"

"Let me just explain the moral of this story," he requested. "You have to understand that the final five are almost as human as you are. They don't have a programmed behavior or anything. They are just people with special abilities but capable of making their own choices. Just because they are cylons, that fact does not change who they are."

"Is it me or you are speaking directly to them?" Sharon inquired.

"Apart from Tory, all the final five are in this room," Billy announced.

Everyone gasped. There were three unknown cylons in that room. They could be anyone, including themselves.

"Who are they?" Tigh demanded to know.

Billy looked at the Chief. "Gemini," he said. Everybody understood what he was trying to say. Galen Tyrol was a cylon.

"What?" the Chief asked. "No, this is not possible! I can't… I'm not…"

"Did you hear what he said?" Athena asked him. "You are different from the other humanoids. You are even less cylon that I am."

"Is that supposed to make me feel better?! Cally hates cylons! My wife can't handle this and seriously neither can I!" he yelled.

"Calm down, Chief," Jane told them. She and Athena were the only ones calm enough to think rationally. They already were cylons, no news for them.

Billy, then, stared at Sam. "Pisces," he said.

"You've got to be kidding me," he said through his teeth.

Jane just looked at Billy. "Are you sure?" He nodded. "Why didn't you tell me before?"

"I only found out he was your Sam when you introduced us."

Sam had his face buried in his hands. "I…I don't…" he mumbled as Jane grasped his hand, trying to comfort him.

"And the last one?" the Admiral inquired.

"Either you or me," Tigh murmured, looking at the floor. "The one that resurrected during the first war. We are the only ones old enough…"

"It's you Colonel Tigh. Aries," Billy confirmed. "Remember what I told you. This doesn't change who you are."

"That makes things so much easier," Sam said sarcastically.

"Look, I've been in your situation," he stated. "No, I've been worse. I was all alone in a deserted resurrection ship. The closest thing to a person that I had was a hybrid that kept mumbling stuff without any sense. I didn't have anyone to tell me that it was okay. I hated myself until one day, when I touched the hybrid, all of these memories returned and then I finally understood that I was still the same person."

The Chief was shaking his head. "This isn't happening. Please tell me this isn't happening!"

The other looked around silently. It was hard to believe that people they contacted with for so long were cylons…

"Forty years in the service," Tigh murmured. "Forty years, two wars, combat. I was locked in that dungeon in New Caprica. Ellen. My gods, what about Ellen?"

The room was dead silent for several minutes. It was too much information to digest at once. Kara was holding Lee's hand, trying to consider everything. He did the same. The Admiral was looking at Tigh, his old friend who turned out to be a cylon, trying to decide what to do. Athena looked at everyone, trying to guess their thoughts and Jane was simply holding Sam's hand in order to let him know that it would be alright

"You're all dismissed. We'll meet here in one hour," the Old Man stated. They needed some time alone.

**A/N: The end is so close... really. I only got 7 reviews last chapter, which disapointed me. Please, send your feedback. I mean it. Reviews are very welcome.**


	42. The Choice You Make

Sam stormed inside the quarters he shared with Jane. She followed him closely.

"Say something," she pleaded.

"What's there to say? I am a cylon. All of my memories are fake. I don't even know who I am anymore…" he said, his back turned to her.

"No all of them are fake," she told him. "No, you were not born in Picon. Your parents were not Gertrude and Tucker Anders. You didn't attend to Noyce Elementary School. But what does it matter? You still have the memories. They may not be real but you still remember your mother tucking you in bed and your father teaching you how to play pyramid. I'd give an arm to have that kind of memories even if they were not real."

"They never existed," he stated.

"They did," she corrected him. "In your head they were real enough to make you feel loved. And there are still the things that actually happened. Do you remember when we first met?"

"Here in Galactica when you took part in the investigation committee?" he said, unsure.

She laughed. "Before. It was in Caprica. When you blew up that Café. I was trapped with D'Anna and Boomer in the debris and you were unconscious. D'Anna wanted to kill you but Boomer and I insisted not to. Then you woke up, we killed her and let you go," she narrated.

"That was you?" he asked.

"Yeah," she replied. "That really happened. And so did our drinking nights at Joe's, our kiss in Colonial Day, my death, Katie's birth. You're afraid of yourself, Sam. I can see it in your eyes. Do you think I am a monster? Are you afraid of me?"

He turned abruptly to her. "Of course not, Jane."

"I killed billions of people – innocent people – and you're not afraid of me. How many people did you kill on purpose? I mean people, not cylons," she told him.

He didn't answer.

"None, isn't it?" she said, putting her hand on his shoulder. "You're not a monster, Sam. You are a good person and a great father. You are a loving and caring person and the fact that you're a cylon doesn't make me love you any less. I'm one too, Sam."

He sighed and turned to her, caressing her face. "You don't love me because I'm human?"

Her face hardened. "How can you think that? I love you because you are you! You could be made of steel and it wouldn't bother me at all. Don't ever question that."

"I'm sorry," he murmured, holding her closer.

She relaxed again. "Don't be sorry. You're still Sam. My Sam. And I'm sure people will recognize that even though you're a cylon, you are one of the best individuals in this ship. You saved thousands of lives in New Caprica. That is something nobody can forget."

--

The chief was sitting on his rack as Cally looked at him like he was insane. Billy was also in the room. He had offered to help Tyrol explaining everything to his wife.

"You're joking! You're not a cylon, Galen," she told him.

"I am," he said.

She turned furiously to Billy. "You! You are putting this things in his head, you frakking toaster!"

"It is the truth, Cally," Billy insisted.

"You expect me to believe that my husband has been a toaster all this time and I didn't know?"

"He's right, I don't know how but I can say he is telling the truth," Tyrol stated.

"This doesn't mean anything, Cally," Billy said. "I already explained to you. He didn't know. This doesn't change who he is."

"What about Nicky? He is Half-Toaster?" she inquired.

"Cally!" Chief said.

"I want to know what my son is!"

"He's a little less than half-cylon. Our bodies are more human than cylon. He's part-cylon but not as much as Jane's daughter or Sharon's child," Billy explained.

She paced furiously around the room. "Get out. Both of you. I can't have you around right now. Just leave!"

"Can I at least see Nicky?" Tyrol requested.

"No! Stay away from him!" she shouted, now crying. "Go away!"

The chief looked at her sadly and left his quarters along with Billy.

"She'll never accept…" he told Billy.

"Give her time."

--

Tigh was pacing in his cabin. _Cylon! Me?_ He thought. He was furious. He had been fighting cylons for so long, yet he was one of them.

There was knocking on his hatch. "Leave!" he yelled. The hatch opened anyway. _Frak,_ he cursed. He had forgotten to lock it.

Kara Thrace entered followed by Lee Adama. She had a bottle of the chief's brew in her right hand.

"I want to be alone," he said in his usual cranky voice.

"Too bad," Kara replied and sat by the table, putting the bottle in there. Lee sat as well and put three glasses by the bottle. "I think this is a good moment for a drink. The best cylon-made brew," she joked.

The man looked at the bottle. He really needed a drink… The colonel grumbled something and joined the couple by the table. "What are you two doing here?"

Starbuck filled the glasses. "Sam had Jane. The chief is with Billy. You were alone. I'm just working to get a little place in heaven."

"I'm here for the booze," Lee stated, taking a sip of his glass.

Tigh sat on a chair and drank the whole cup in a couple of swallows.

"You two don't have a problem with drinking with a toaster?" he asked.

"Looks like it's not the first time," Lee told him. "And we're still here."

"I, on the other hand, was apparently married to one. And two of my best friends are toasters as well. Apart from being a drunken bastard from time to time and a pain in my ass, I can't say I have many reasons to complain about you," Kara declared.

The man helped himself with another glass. "I've been an officer for most of my life. No, all of my life, according to Keikeya's story. Now, I discover I am the enemy…"

"Someone once told me that in this kind of situations – life changing – you make a choice and you don't look back," she told him, quoting what he had told her when she had to choose between Lee and Sam in New Caprica.

"Either you fight in our side, by my father's side like you've been doing for so long, or you join the cylons and leave us behind," Lee explained. "The Old Man's waiting for an answer. He's waiting to know if he still has his best-friend or if he lost him forever."

The XO though of Lee's words. The way he put things, there was not even a choice in question. The Old Man had been his family for decades. He would not leave him behind. He drank the rest of the contents in his cup and stood up. "My name is Saul Tigh, I am an officer in the Colonial Fleet. Whatever else I am, whatever else it means, that's the man I want to be. And if I die today, that's the man I'll be."

Kara raised her cup. "So say we all."

"So say we all," Lee echoed. "The Old Guy is in his office. You might want to repeat that to him, Colonel."

--

Bill Adama was getting ready for round two. In twenty minutes everyone would have to make decisions. The side they chose, what they would do… He wished he had Laura around; she was always good in these situations.

The hatch of his office opened without any knocking before and Saul Tigh entered. The Admiral tensed. He waited for any reaction from the XO but he just stood there staring. Adama wished he would do something, even if it was grabbing his gun and shooting him, it would be better than the waiting…

Tigh moved his arm up and saluted him. "Reporting to service," he said.

Bill finally relaxed. All these years interacting with Saul, unaware that he was a cylon, allowed him to understand the meaning of the action. Nothing had changed, his friend was still there.

"Sit," the Old Man ordered and the XO obeyed immediately. "So, you're on our side."

"Yes."

"Will you go to D'Anna anyway? For the hostages?"

"Only if you order me to do it, I will," Tigh said.

"I will not order anything for the time being," Bill replied. "We need to discuss it with the others." He paused and returned to friend mode. "How are you dealing?"

"I feel like going to my rack and crawling under the covers with a bottle of ambrosia," he stated. "Feeling sorry for me, for Ellen… But this is more important."

"What about Ellen?" Adama asked.

"I killed her because she helped the toasters. Turns out that I'm one of them," Tigh murmured.

"You killed her because you thought it was the right thing to do," he said. "Because you believed in the cause and she had endangered the well-being of thousands of people."

"Still…"

"You loved her," Bill finished.

"I did," he agreed.

They silently agreed not to discuss that matter anymore.

"Come on. Let's go to the meeting," the Admiral said, getting up. "We need a plan."

--

Everyone was back to the ward room and the meeting was about to start.

"First of all, we need to know the side you chose," the older Adama said.

"There's no side to pick. I've been human since I can remember. I'm not going to change because all of a sudden I'm told I'm not one," Sam said, holding Jane's hand.

"You already know I'm on the human side," Tigh told the Admiral.

Everyone looked at the chief. "I'm not going to change," he stated. "Tell me the plan and I'll follow it." He was willing to do anything for the cause, even if that ended up with him dying. As long as Cally would recognize he was still the same…

"Alright," the Admiral said. "So that's settled. We need a plan and let me warn you that I won't accept anything that involves we handing the final five to D'Anna," he stated. "I talked to Gaeta and he agreed. I'm sure Laura would agree too. No offence, but you are our best guarantee."

"None taken," the chief murmured. "But she won't just give the hostages back to us. We need to scare her enough to make her do that."

"Actually," Sharon said. "I think I have a plan."

The Admiral turned to her and nodded.

"Is any of you particularly attached to Tory? 'Cause in my plan we potentially have to flush her down an airlock," she stated.

Kara smiled and turned to Lee. "I'm already starting to like this plan…"

**A/N: Guess what? This is so close to an end. Only two or three more chapters and the epilogue. Speaking of epilogue, as I am really nice, I am asking for suggestions about how your favorite characters end up. Review, send suggestionf, give feeback... And a new story will also come soon (not sequel), plus a few one-shots following _All The Time in the Universe_'s plot.**


	43. Viper's Calling

"So let me review your plan," the Admiral told Athena. "First of all, we tell D'Anna that four of the final five don't want to go to her."

"Yes," the cylon said, nodding.

"Then, assuming she won't have a good reaction, we'll threaten to kill Tory," the Admiral continued. "What if she actually accepts the final five don't want to deal with her?"

"She won't," Jane assured him.

Sharon nodded in agreement. "If by a miracle of god she does accept it, we have to be careful. She is as sneaky as a weasel."

Tigh coughed. "I still doubt she will believe us. D'Anna will think we're bluffing."

"She will only risk 'till a certain point," Kara pointed out. "If we are convincing enough, she'll fear for Tory's safety and take an action, which can either be good or bad."

"It's still our best chance…" the Older Adama muttered.

The phone started ringing and Lee got up in order to pick it up. "This is Major Adama," he said.

"_Sir, we need your father in the CIC," _Hoshi said. _"She's contacting us now."_

"D'Anna?"

"_Yes," _Hoshi replied. _"Please, be quick. She just threw someone out of the airlock."_

Lee hung up and turned to everyone else. "D'Anna is trying to contact us," he stated. "She's just stole our plan."

--

The whole group burst in the CIC.

"Petty Officer, take over the communications and put her on the speakers," the Admiral ordered Jane.

"Yes, sir," she agreed and immediately walked to the chair Hoshi was occupying. "She's on," Jane announced.

"D'Anna," the Older Adama said. "This is the Admiral."

"_Admiral, there's been a change of plans,"_ the cylon announced. _"I've just executed the first of the colonial hostages. And others will follow every quarter hour until our people go home."_

Kara looked at her father-in-law. "We have to tell her now," she whispered furiously.

"You're right." He passed the micro to Tigh. "Do it. Let her know you're aware of who you are."

Tigh took a deep breath and approached the micro to his mouth. "We're not going anywhere," he said in a stern voice.

Everyone in the room that was not aware of the XO's cylon condition gasped.

"_Is that you, Colonel Tigh?"_ she asked.

"Yes," he said. "It is me."

"_I'm so glad to hear you, Colonel. But I'd like to know why you don't wa__nt to join us,"_ she requested.

"I'd rather stay with my people,"he replied.

"_We are your people,"_ she stated.

"Humanity is my people," he corrected her. "It always was and it will always be."

"_Do your brothers__ agree with you?"_ D'Anna inquired.

Sam signaled Tigh to give him the micro and spoke. "Yes, we do."

"_Samuel Anders. What an honor,"_ she said.

"I'd tell you the same but I'd be lying," Sam said back.

"_So you all refuse to come to me even though it means that your crewmates and the president will die?"_ she asked.

Sam looked at the Admiral. The way she put things made him think. _Is this worth it?_ He questioned himself. The Admiral nodded, answering his unspoken question. "That's right," Sam told her.

She didn't reply for a few seconds. Every single person in that room was tense. Still, they couldn't deny these people, who turned out to be cylons, were apparently on their side, even receiving orders from the Admiral.

"_I'd like to talk to Six,"_ she requested. _"In a private line, please."_

Jane immediately got up from her post and moved to the Admiral's side. "Should I let her know of my real allegiances?" she whispered.

"Do it," he told her in a low voice. "It won't make a difference right now."

"Private line?" she asked.

He shook his head. She joined Sam and he passed her the micro. The fingers of her free hand entwined with his.

"D'Anna," Jane said.

"_Is this line secure?"_

"Yes," she lied.

"_What is going on? How did you let this happen? Do something! Find a way to bring them here!"_ she ordered.

"No," Jane said simply.

"_No? NO?" _D'Anna asked, extremely mad.

"Exactly. I won't find a way to make them go there. I won't help you, I'm with them," she declared.

"_With the four of the five?" _

"With the human race. I've been for a long time," she stated. "Didn't you hear around? Caprica-Six betrayed the cylons and joined the humans."

As Jane talked to the other cylon, the admiral was on the other line ordering the marines to take Tory to an airlock, things were about to get complicated, it was better to be prepared.

"_And you're following her example? From what I heard she's dead. Don't you see where that took her? Probably they didn't even make an effort to save her. She was just a cylon. Who cares i__f she died and didn't resurrect…" _

"You're wrong. I'm pretty much alive and still by their side. I won't follow your orders anymore," she stated.

"_You're trying to say you're Caprica-Six?" _Three asked in a shocked voice.

"Missed me?" Jane asked sarcastically, passing the micro back to the Admiral.

"Listen, D'Anna," the Old Man said. "If you harm anyone of my people, if you so muck blacken one of their eyes, we'll flush Tory Foster out of the launch tube."

"_We have no wish for further bloodshed__,"_ the cylon immediately replied.

"You have thirty minutes to release my people or you can kiss one of your precious Final Five goodbye," the Admiral stated before signaling Jane to turn off the call. He turned to face the rest of the group. "Lee and Kara, you go to the airlock's observation room and watch Foster. Petty Officer Natasi, keep handling the communications. The others stay available. We'll call you in case you're needed."

--

Five minutes later, in the observation room, Lee and Kara were staring at Tory, who was standing in the airlock with half a dozen marines pointing their riffles at her.

"Just look at her," Kara said frowning. "The bitch doesn't look even a bit worried about taking a swim in open space."

"Disturbing, isn't she?" Lee murmured.

"Yeah," she agreed, grabbing the micro.

"What are you doing?" her husband inquired.

"Relax," Kara told him. "I'm just gonna have a talk with her." She turned the micro on. "Hey, Tory, you seem pretty relaxed for someone who's about to take a one way trip to hell."

Tory looked at the glass that separated the airlock from the observation deck. _"Like you don't know I'll download right away,"_ her voice echoed in the room, coming from the speakers.

Kara looked at Lee with a smirk. "Oh, this is too good," she murmured to him, then, returned her attention to Tory. "You're a little bit behind the news, aren't you? How much did they tell you in the brig?"

"_Try nothing,"_ the cylon said.

"Well, let us give you the information in first hand. Two days ago the Hub, which controlled every resurrection ship, was destroyed," Kara said.

"Meaning every cylon, including you, lost its capacity to download," Lee finished. "Not so nice, hum?"

Tory's face clearly tensed. _"They won't allow this. The other cylons. They won't leave me like this!"_

"I would sit down while I waited for them, if I were you. It may take a while," Starbuck said before turning the micro off and sitting on a chair.

Lee sat on the other chair and sighed. "That was kind mean."

"She deserved it, though," Kara pointed out. "The bitch betrayed us. What she put Kacey through by helping Leoben abducting us… I can never forget Kace's face. She was so scared."

"At least Leoben is finished," Lee told her, reaching for her hand. "You heard Jane. He was boxed and with the hub destroyed there's no turning back from that."

"Yeah, still this just sucks," she murmured. "I mean, look at what's happening. The cylons have dozens of our people hostage, your hypothetical future stepmother included; people we are close to us turn out to be cylons, which turns their lives and ours upside down; people who are supposed to be dead show up alive… have in mind that I'm not placing this topic in the 'bad stuff' pile, just in the weird one. Anyway, with all this crap we barely have time to be a family, to be together."

Lee had to recognize that it was exactly what he had been feeling in the past few days. "Well, just to cheer you up let me promise you one thing," he told his wife, still holding her hand. "If we arrive to Earth…"

"When," she corrected him immediately. "_When_ we arrive to Earth, Lee, not _if_. 'Cause we'll get there, no matter what."

He was not so sure but that really was not time to discuss that kind of matter. "Okay, when we arrive to Earth, I will make sure we have a whole day by ourselves and guess what we'll do."

She smiled wickedly. "We'll frak."

"All day long," he confirmed, giving her a smile. "Now, about the president becoming my stepmother… do you really believe that'll happen?"

"You heard the Old Man," she stated. "He can't live without her. It wouldn't surprise me if as soon as he gets her back he goes searching for a priest and gets married to her. You Adama guys tend to be kind of spontaneous in this kind of matters," she joked. "Remember us? Probably the fastest wedding in colonial history. We ran into the priestess in the hallway and five minutes later we were married."

He smiled at the memory. "I guess we were lucky Helo and Sharon were around to be the witnesses."

Kara also grinned nostalgically. "Believe me, Apollo, your dad will become the first… what is the male equivalent to the First Lady?"

"The First Gentleman," Lee answered.

"Yeah, that's just what Dad will be," she stated.

Lee looked at her, amused by the idea. They were not able to control their laugher for more than ten seconds.

"Only you would make me laugh at a time like this," Apollo declared.

"Major, Captain?" one of the marines called from the airlock. "There's something wrong with the prisioner."

Kara and Lee immediately stopped laughing and go up, looking through the glass. Tory was kneeling on the floor with her hands pressing her temples.

Lee got hold of the micro. "What the hell is going on?" he asked Tory.

"_There's this music in my head," _she answered. _"It is calling me."_

--

Saul Tigh approached the spot in the hangar deck where the viper Starbuck had used during the maelstrom incident had been sitting for the last months. He didn't mean to go there; he just kept walking until he reached the ship, as if it was calling him. There was a soft melody sounding in his head…

When he arrived to his destination, he noticed that Sam, the Chief and Billy were already in there, staring at the bird.

"Alright, does anyone know what the frak we're doing here?" the XO asked in an angry tone.

"I don't know, I just felt compelled," Sam replied. "I was going to get JJ from the daycare and when I noticed I was already here. Did anyone else hear this strange music?"

"I heard. There's something about this viper, like it is calling us," the Chief said.

"Why is this viper not being used?" Billy inquired, unaware of its history.

"A bunch of months ago Kara was flying CAP with Apollo and her viper, this viper, was attracted to a space storm. I saw the pictures and that thing didn't seem normal, it looked just like the Eye of Jupiter… it was frakking terrifying. According to what Kara said, it was like the ship was alive," Sam explained. "She almost didn't make it back."

"Alive?" Billy asked. "That's impossible."

"I saw the records," Tigh confirmed. "It looked like the frakking thing was thinking by itself. Ever since that incident, Bill never let this viper out again."

"Ever since that day I had a weird feeling about this bird," Tyrol declared, passing his hand through the ship.

"You checked every inch of this thing and you didn't find a clue," the XO replied.

"Yeah, but now I feel something's different," the Chief said. "It has changed. Why would something change now?"

Billy looked at the viper. He had felt attracted to it too, even though he didn't know a thing about the incident. "Well, months ago you didn't know you were one a cylon," Billy told him. "The baseship's hybrid said the final five would lead humanity to Earth. Maybe it is not a coincidence that this single viper, which was 'flying instinctively' to that storm, is calling us now."

"Maybe Kara can help us," Sam suggested. "She was there."

"Good idea. You go call her," Tigh ordered him.

**A/N: It is so close... one or two more chapters (I'm still deciding between a very long one or two shorter) and the epilogue. Come on, help me reach the 400 reviews before the epilogue. It is only a minute... Review!**


	44. The Signal

**Baseship – ****Right after the contact with Galactica**

Laura could hear people running through the corridors. The sound of Centurions stepping the floor pursued these people.

"What the hell?" Asked Helo, who was in the room with the president.

One cylon, from the Leoben model, entered the room.

"What's going on?" Roslin inquired.

"D'Anna is about to start executing more hostages," the cylon replied nervously.

_At least this one looks worried instead of lunatic, _Laura thought. "Okay, take me to D'Anna. I'll talk to her."

"She won't listen to you," Helo said.

"At least I will try," the president stated.

"Then I'll go too," Helo told her. "There's no way I'm sending you alone, Madam President."

The cylon guided them through the hallways until they reached the control room. D'Anna was holding a micro in the middle of it and looked extremely tense.

"Are you ready to come to your senses, Admiral?" D'Anna asked.

"_Are _you_? We have the five final cylons and only one, Tory, is not on our side. Keep pushing it and Tory will be flushed out,"_ the Admiral told her.

"You have the _five _of them? There are only four in the fleet," D'Anna declared.

"_Not anymore. The last cylon joined us a few hours ago. I have to say it__ was a surprise to see Billy Keikeya up and around…"_ Adama told her.

Laura's eyes widened. Billy. Billy Keikeya, the closest thing to a family she had had for the two years following the attacks, the person she mourned so painfully in the morgue, was a cylon. It was rather ironic: two of her aides were cylons. She hoped Gaeta was not one too or the position would definitely be cursed. _Billy is alive,_ she thought. _But he is a cylon… _Still, the Admiral's words echoed in her mind. Only Tory was against the humans. So Billy was helping them… Suddenly, the price to pay for Billy being alive, his cylon nature, seemed so low. Jane was a cylon too. And Athena. They were good people. Why wouldn't Billy be like them?

D'Anna turned the micro off and looked at one an Eight. "What is wrong with them?! They turn their backs to what they are and join the humans?!"

"Who are they? The final five?" Laura asked from the doorway. "I can't harm them, I'm just curious. I know Tory and Billy. But who are the others?"

The cylon looked at the president with a glare. "Saul Tigh, Samuel Anders and Galen Tyrol."

Helo laughed. "No, seriously. Who are they?"

D'Anna raised an eybrow.

He gulped. "Holly Cow! You were not joking…"

"The leaders of the New Caprican Resistance," Laura murmured. "The gods really have a way of making us think."

"God," D'Anna corrected.

"Let's not turn this into a religious discussion," Helo suggested.

"Exactly, we have more important matters to talk about," Laura said. "Bill is not bluffing about airlocking Tory."

"Yes, he is," D'Anna replied. "We all need Tory to find Earth. The hybrid said it."

"Bill doesn't believe in prophecies," the president declared.

"That's his problem," the cylon said. She turned to a Leoben. "Prepare the nukes. Point them at the civilian fleet, away from Galactica."

"Do it and the Old Man will kill Foster in a heartbeat," Helo stated.

"He won't even risk the civilians," D'Anna said. "He'll hand us the final five."

"He won't!" Roslin insisted.

"Than the entire human race will die with him," the cylon murmured.

--

**Galactica – Present Time**

In the observation deck, Lee and Kara were still trying to figure out what was going on with Tory.

"Maybe she's gone nuts," Kara suggested hopefully.

Lee stared at the cylon, who was back up but humming a melody. "Maybe," he agreed. "But it is also possible that it has to do with the Final Five."

"Wow, the final five have input audio players," Starbuck joked. "That must be handy."

Lee chuckled but before he could reply, Sam appeared in the room.

"Hey," Kara said. "Do you need something?"

"Yeah. Could you come with me?" Sam asked.

She looked at Lee. "Can you handle this by yourself?"

"I'll be fine, don't worry," Apollo told her.

"Thanks," Sam said. He caught a glimpse of Tory through the observation window and noticed the humming. "She's hearing the song too?"

"Yes. What does it mean?" Lee inquired.

"I'm not sure. It seems like a calling," Sam stated before leaving with Kara.

They walked in the hangar deck's direction.

"What's so urgent?" she inquired.

"It's about the viper."

"What viper?" Kara asked as they entered the hangar deck.

"The one from the maelstrom," Tyrol answered when they reached the bird.

"What about it? It's been sitting here the same way for months," she told them skeptically.

"Something is happening to it," Billy declared

"What makes you think that?" Starbuck inquired.

Tigh scratched his chin. "Hard to explain. It's just a… feeling."

"I have a feeling too. You are all losing your minds," she told them. She turned to Sam. "Shouldn't you be with Jane? She seems to be the only one who can put some sense in your hard head."

"Kara, we are all perfectly sane. I think it was that music, the one Tory is also hearing, that called us here. There is something different with this viper. I'm sure of it," Sam insisted.

She sat on a box that was lying next to the viper. "I still think you're losing screws or something."

"Shut up," Tigh grumbled.

Billy approached her. "Tell me about the incident."

Kara glared at him. "I'd rather not. Not a good memory, you see?"

"Please. This may be important," he insisted.

She looked away. Thinking about that day was still difficult to her. She had never felt that scared before. The shape of the storm, everything… "I was flying CAP with Lee when my viper started to be attracted to somewhere…"

"…like it was alive. I already know that part. I want to know what you saw in there," Billy said.

She gulped. "The storm looked like a frakking mandala. I've been doodling that shape my entire life just out of instinct. Plus, Leoben said that I had a destiny. When I started entering that thing, I thought that destiny was to die in there. When I reached the bottom of the storm, I stopped being pushed and it just disappeared, like it had already accomplished its purpose."

Billy thought for a while. "The storm was clearly unnatural. Maybe its purpose was to change the viper…" he muttered.

"We scanned the viper all over," Kara told him, getting up. She turned to the Chief. "You were there. We searched all over."

"I know," Tyrol agreed. "But at the same time, I was never called to the ship this way."

"This thing is different," Tigh murmured. "We have to process the viper again."

Kara shook her head in disbelief and started climbing to the cockpit. "You know, you are a bunch of pains in my ass 'cause at this moment I could be flushing Foster to space, which would make my day," she complained as she started to activate the viper's systems. "But instead, I'm here doing a pointless examination in this stupid viper that almost got me killed because you just won't shut up until I help you."

"Thanks for the compliments, Kara," Sam said, checking the weapons.

She continued to activate the electronics of the bird, grumbling under her breath about what a loss of time it was.

"Anything?" Billy asked.

"Nope," she said. Suddenly, she detected a signal with one of the instruments. "What the frak? This wasn't here before."

The Chief climbed up the ladder in order to see what she had discovered. "What did you find, Starbuck?"

She pointed at the instrument. "I swear this signal wasn't here during the initial examination."

"This wasn't here last week," Tyrol corrected. "I check everything at least once a week."

"It's a colonial signal," she murmured. "Do you think it is…"

"Earth," Tigh finished. "We have to warn the Old Man."

--

In the CIC, the instruments started beeping suddenly.

"Admiral, the baseship's nukes just went hot," Jane announced. "If any of our fleet starts spooling up…"

"We won't have time to jump before the cylons fire," the Admiral replied.

"She's not kidding," Jane warned the Admiral.

Adama sighed. "Petty Officer, contact my son and tell him to prepare the airlock to flush Tory out. I'll be there in five minutes.

--

"I want everyone except Tory out of the airlock," Lee said though the micro, right after receiving his father's orders.

"_So that's it. You're going to kill me now," _Tory shouted as the airlock was closed.

"If we have to," Lee replied.

He stood there, looking at the prisoner standing in the middle of the airlock with a hopeless expression in her face.

"Why did you betray us?" he asked her.

"_I was trying to save myself," _she told him. _"Call me a mercenary if you want but I was going to work for those who offered me a better exit from this hell."_

"Even though that involved kidnapping an innocent child."

"_Leoben__ would not harm her," _Tory told him. _"The kid was safe. I don't regret what I did."_

"Yeah, that's your biggest fault," Lee murmured and turned off the micro when he saw his father arriving with Athena and Jane.

"Is everything ready?" he asked.

"Yes," Lee confirmed.

"Good," the Admiral said. "Jane, channel all the communications to this deck."

"I'm on it, sir."

"Give me the key," the Old Man asked Lee, who immediately passed it to him.

The key was put in place but when the Admiral was about to push the button that opened the launching tube, Kara burst into the room.

"Stop!" she said. "The other four just gave us Earth."

**A/N: I decided to make two chapters out of the last one or it would have around 3500 words. I already wrote the whole fic, which means that if you are generous and send loads of reviews (so I can reach the 400 this chapter), I may post next chapter tomorrow. By the way, the first chapter of my next story is already written. The timeline starts a few months after Lay Down Your Burdens (before the one-year skip). Review!**


	45. Earth

Lee was sitting in the viper watching the signal incredulously. He, Kara and his father were discussing the liability of the signal.

"This is a colonial locator signal," he stated.

"And no other wireless in this fleet is picking it up?" the Old man inquired.

"Exactly," Kara told them. "Jane confirmed it herself. The channel is empty except for this viper. It's got to be a signal from Earth."

"You can't be sure of it, Kara," her father-in-law said.

"Come on, Dad," she said. "It fits. This viper survived a massive space storm shaped like the Eye of Jupiter. The hybrid said the final five would lead us to Earth and four of them gave me this."

"And now we receive messages from the beyond?" he asked skeptically.

"You heard the signal. This is just the way the hybrid predicted it," Lee stated, joining the conversation.

"Something is orchestrating this for a purpose," Kara insisted.

"A higher power?" the Admiral asked.

"Call it whatever you want," she said.

The Old Man turned to his son. "You actually think this is possible. You never believed in this kind of things."

"With all I've seen since the attacks, I'm capable of believing anything, Dad. Give it a shot," Lee told his father. "We're not in a position that allows us to ignore a clue like this one to Earth.

The Older Adama sighed. "You two are going to be the death of me," he grumbled. "Have someone contacting D'Anna. Don't make me regret this."

--

After a long quarter of hour convincing D'Anna that the signal was really there, she agreed on a truce. A heavy raider had been sent to Galactica, bringing a delegation of cylons to analyze the signal.

One Eight was currently studying the signal inside the viper as D'Anna watched.

"You're right," D'Anna told the Admiral. "This is a damn needle in the middle of the fleet."

"It's the best we can do at the moment," he replied.

She turned to the final five standing a few feet away, Tory surrounded my marines. "You all agree this is a way to Earth?"

"Yes," Tigh said for all of them.

"Even you, Tory?"

"I think so," she said. "It's our only shot, anyway."

"We could have jumped away and left you behind with the hostages, you know? I wouldn't be the first time we abandoned our own…" the Admiral said. "But you would eventually find us and that would lead to another confrontation. You were afraid we'd kill the five but here they are alive, free to go, except for Tory. She still has to pay for her crimes. We can begin a new alliance here and now, work together for the same purpose. The first step is giving our people back."

D'Anna nodded. "Alright. I'll release the crew and we'll go to Earth together. I need a channel to communicate the orders to the baseship."

"Jane," the admiral said simply.

She approached D'Anna. "Come with me," Jane told her former friend.

D'Anna followed her to the observation deck where the communication systems were set.

"So, you're Jane now?" D'Anna asked trying to sound casual.

Jane looked at her. "Yes. I'm happy here. I have friends – very good friends – and a family that I love and would give my life for. You should try it someday."

"What about us, the other cylons? About Gaius? You just forgot about all of us?" D'Anna sounded offended, even sad.

"No, you're like distant family members. I know you are there but I don't really need you. Gaius is the past. He's in his happy place now: living inside his own head. Let him stay there forever," she stated, passing her the phone. "Tell me when you're done." With that, she left the room and waited outside.

--

The first raptor with the hostages had just landed. Almost everyone in Galactica was waiting in the Hangar Deck in order to welcome their crewmates.

"Is gwandma in thewe?" Kacey asked, pointing at the ship that had just arrived.

All the Adamas were waiting in the front row for the future matriarch of the family to arrive. Bill was obviously the most nervous of all them. He had decided to propose her right there so they could get married when they reached Earth.

"I don't know, Kace," Lee told his daughter. "Maybe she is in another one."

Zak obviously didn't have any idea of what was going on and was currently was entertained once again with his favorite toy: Kara's hair.

The raptor's hatch opened and the first to step out was Helo, who was immediately 'attacked' by little Hera. Athena joined her daughter and shared a passionate kiss with her husband in front of everyone.

A couple of pilots also stepped out of the ship. Laura was the last one to exit it.

The Old Man's face immediately broke into a smile as she approached him and enveloped him in a hug.

"I was wondering if you'd like to get married," she asked in his ear.

He laughed. "You stole my line, Laura."

"I'll take that as a 'yes'," she said.

Billy was standing a few feet away from them. When Laura stepped away from the hug with the Admiral, she approached him.

"I'm glad you're alive," she told him with a smile.

"You too, Madam President," he replied.

She took another step in his direction and hugged him. "Call me Laura, Billy. I think returning to life gives you that right."

"I thought being a cylon completely removed that right," Billy stated.

"Just because you're a cylon it doesn't mean you're less of a friend," the President said.

The hostages were not the only ones who experienced a reunion. Right after all of them had arrived and the people were starting to leave the deck, a civilian shuttle arrived and Anastasia Dualla exited it. Cally had told her about Billy earlier and she had immediately decided that she wouldn't make the same mistake twice. They shared a friendly hug and agreed to work things between them slowly.

Cally had also realized she was wrong and apologized to the Chief, who had gladly accepted the apology and joined his family again.

Then, it was almost time to jump. Not many people were aware that the next jump could lead the fleet to Earth but those who knew it were looking forward to find out if they had finally reached the finish line and, if that was the case, to be the first ones to get a decent glimpse of it.

"We've got VIP seats for all of us," Sam announced to the Adamas and the Agathons.

"This is not a pyramid stadium, Sammy," Kara joked. "There are no VIP seats in a battlestar."

"But there is the forward observation lounge," Jane told them as she held her daughter. "And I've got the access code to it."

"How did you get it? Tigh ordered it closed years ago because everyone was fighting to get in there," Lee said. "He didn't give the code to you, did he?"

"Let me guess, you hacked into the lock by connecting yourself to it," Sharon stated.

"Yep," Jane confirmed. "Perks of being a cylon. Come on, Hoshi's covering for me in the CIC and I don't want to miss the jump."

The group walked to the observation lounge and Jane inserted the code when they reached it. The room was completely empty. The chairs that used to be there and gave people the idea that they were in a cinema theatre had been removed but the massive glass wall that provided the image of space outside was still there.

"Do you think this is it?" Kara asked to no one in particular. "That we'll get to Earth with this jump?"

"I'm hoping it will," Helo told them. "I don't know if I can handle this algae diet for much longer."

"We're going to Earth, Mommy?" Hera asked.

"I hope so, baby," Sharon murmured.

"Shh," Jane said, looking at her watch. "It's now."

"_Get in 5…4…3…2…1…Jump!"_ Hoshi's voice said.

They felt the strange sensation of the ship jumping but the image outside was not very different. They could see other ships of the fleet appearing here and a strange gleaming whose source was not visible yet.

"Whewe is it?" Kacey asked, looking for the planet.

"Wait, the ship is turning," Kara told her daughter. She grasped Lee's hand hoping they had really arrived to Earth.

"Do you think they got it wrong?" Sam asked.

"No, I don't think they did," Lee said, pointing at a small blue spot barely visible.

The ship was moving in the direction of the spot, followed by the rest of the fleet. Then, it was clearly there. The glowing blue planet that Pythia had described. The promised land. Everyone in the room was overwhelmed. They could finally breathe.

"There it is," Lee murmured to Kacey. "Earth."

"Home," Kara corrected him with an unbreakable smile in her face.

The speakers on the room announced something. _"Crew of __Galactica,"_ the Admiral's voice said. _"People of the fleet. This is Admiral Adama. Years ago I promised to lead you to a new home. We've endured a difficult journey, we've all lost, we've all suffered, and the truth is I questioned whether this day would ever come. But today our journey is at an end. We have arrived, at Earth."_

They could hear the cheers outside.

"I wish we had some booze," Sam murmured, taking JJ from her mother's arms and putting her little open hand against the glass that separated them from space and, then, from Earth.

Helo put his arms around his wife's waist and kissed her passionately as Kacey, Hera and Zak, looked through the glass wall, dazzled by the vision of Earth.

Lee and Kara simply held each other.

"I love you," Kara murmured against his shoulder.

"I love you too," Lee replied.

They had all arrived home after the long bumpy journey. The thirteen people in that room along with the rest of the fleet had finally the chance to get their bright shinny future.

--

One day had passed since the colonials' arrival to the blue planet. The admiral had established contact with Earth's authorities through Billy Keikeya, who was already experienced in Earth relations, and they were sending a delegation to Galactica.

The Old Man, Roslin and Billy were in the Hangar deck waiting for them to exit their ship. A tall grey haired man was the first to step on Galactica's deck. He was dressed in a military uniform that indicated he was a General. Behind him, there was a younger woman in a formal suit.

"I'm President Whitmore and in name of the Planetary Government and all our people I'd like to welcome you to Earth," the younger woman said.

"Thank you, Madam Prasident," Roslin said. "I am Laura Roslin, President of the Colonies and these are Admiral Adama and my former aide, Mr. William Keikeya."

The older man approached them. "General Marshall," he introduced himself, saluting the presidents and then the Admiral. "I'm already acquitted with Mr. Keikeya, even though he was known as Cancer at the time. I was just an Ensign back then but I helped in the process of raising our defenses."

"I remember you, General," Billy confirmed. "Congratulations in the promotions, by the way."

"We looked for you for a long time," President Whitmore said. "We managed to reach the colonies about six months ago but they were completely destroyed. We feared all of you had been decimated."

"There are less than forty thousands of us now," the Old Man said.

"A real tragedy," Whitmore agreed. "We'd like to discuss some details but I guarantee you that since your contact yesterday we started to prepare ourselves for your arrival. Medical care, temporary homing… Our home is your home now. We waited for you for a long time. You mentioned some cylons allies when you contacted us…"

"They helped us getting here," Laura said. "We have a peace agreement with them."

"I'm sure we will be able to work their situation in the most convenient way for both," Whitmore assured them. "Once again, welcome to earth, brothers."

**A/N: So, here it is. They arrived to Earth. I know some of you were expecting Earth to be a wreck like in the show but I couldn't be that cruel. it would also leave too much loose ends. This is also an alternative version of Earth, the real one is two complicated with terrorism, war, curruption... They might as nevel never arrive there if that was the case. The Epilogue will be posted in a few days. It is already finished but I wanted to check some things. I really hope you liked it and that this ending was not too lame. **


	46. Epilogue

**Epilogue**

Five years had passed since the fleet arrived to Earth and a lot of things had changed.

The colonials were spread all over the world but most of them decided to stay in the province of North America. There was one special city, though: New Delphi, 6.543 habitants (soon to be 6.545), located in the so called Yellowstone Park. Around 95 of its inhabitants had come from the 12 colonies. The original village, which was abandoned before the colonials arrived due to the bankrupt of the local industries, had been fully renovated and was now a very pleasant place. During summer, tourists would come to visit in order to get acquitted with the other colonies' cultures.

Laura Roslin, now Adama, had been offered a place on the Earth Planetary Government, which she had politely declined so her old friend, Wallace Gray, had taken the place. Instead, she had accepted the position of New Delphi's Elementary School principal. Her husband, Bill Adama, who was now retired, was a enjoying a rather calm civilian life. He, along with his old friend Saul Tigh, spent half their time fishing these days.

At the moment, Kara Adama was painting in her studio. She could hear the television a few feet away. Today was the fifth anniversary of their arrival to Earth and a documentary about the lives of the colonials aboard the fleet was being broadcasted.

Her mother-in-law was currently talking on the TV. "_…there were initially over fifty thousand survivors, however when we finally arrived here we were less than forty thousand."_

"_Many souls were lost in your way here. How does that make you feel?" _the reporter inquired.

"_Sad, but at the same time I think things could have been much worse… All the pilots, our defenders, did a brilliant job protecting us. If it wasn't for them, I doubt there would be any of us to arrive here…"_

Kara felt nostalgic. Laura's words reminded her of the time when she was one of this pilots, risking her like every day to fight for the fleet. Back when Lee was also in the front line with her. Their lives were so different now…

A few months after they arrived to Earth, she and Lee had installed themselves permanently in New Delphi. Currently, they lived in a two storey cottage less than two miles away from the city. It was right in front of the lake and a few yards away from the Old Man's house. Her studio was in the attic of the house. There were skylights everywhere, which made it very luminous and welcoming, unlike her old apartment back in Caprica.

Lee, to everyone's surprise, had became a lawyer and currently worked in the City Hall as one of the councilors. He along with Kara had decided to leave the military for the kid's sake. As much as they loved flying, their children were more important. Still, Bill Adama had managed to pull some strings in order to get them to fly a few times a year. That enough to make them happy.

Her thoughts were interrupted by the sound of little feet running up the stairs.

"Mommy!" a brown haired blue eyed little girl said as she entered the room.

"Let me guess, it is time to go get your brother and sister from school," she replied and the girl nodded. Kara dropped the brush on the easel and went to a small bathroom to wash her hands. When she returned to the studio, her daughter was still waiting for her. She smiled. "Who needs clocks when we have you, Lily?"

Frequently Lee and Kara would joke that Lily was their 'Welcome to Earth gift'. Kara's pregnancy had been a total surprise for both of them. Lily was born eight months after their arrival to the planet and named after Laura's mother as a wedding gift to her and the Old Man.

However, they were not the only ones to receive a 'Welcome to Earth gift'. Helo and Athena had received two. When Sharon found out she was having twins at the same time Kara was also having a kid, the first thing she thought about was that at the time of their arrival to the 13th colony ,if the unborn children were counted, there were 13 people on the observation lounge trying to get a first glimpse of their new home. Sign from god or pure coincidence? She liked to believe it was presage for their future happiness.

"Mommy, when can I go to school like Kacey and Zak?" Lily asked as she walked outside with her mother.

"You also go to school now, sweetie," Kara told her daughter.

"Only in the morning," Lily pointed out.

"You're still in Pre-K," she stated. "Don't you like to hang out with me in the afternoons? Bug Uncle Helo when he is not working, being tickled 'till you cry when Mommy's bored," Kara joked.

"I do," the little girl answered when they reached the jeep. "I was just curious."

"You're always curious." Kara opened the door and helped her daughter settling on the back seat. "Don't worry. Two more years and you'll go to elementary school."

She closed the door and walked to the front seat of the car. It took them a few minutes to reach New Delphi downtown. Kara parked her car in front of the school. She looked at the digital clock in the car. 3:50 pm. They still had ten minutes before the avalanche of kids ran through the school's doors and the whiny soccer moms started to brag about their precious offsprings.

_Better run while I can, _she thought. Kara never liked to include themselves in that group of mothers that completely smothered their kids and were always trying to convince her to join their bingo afternoons or cake sales. Just a few weeks ago, Sharon, in her moody pregnant self, had given the finger to one of the 'Mommyzillas' when she tried to convince her, kara and Jane to take part on a silent auction to finance the creation of a gold club for kids.

Kara exited the car and helped Lily out. They walked together to the school and, when they were inside, to the principal's office. That would be a good place to hide. She knocked on the door and waited for an answer.

"Come in."

Lily immediately reached the doorknob and ran inside the room. "Hi grandma!" she greeted as she launched herself to her grandmother's lap.

"Hi sweetie," the former president replied.

"We arrived early to get the kids. Decided to pay a visit and protect ourselves from the 'Mommyzilla Squad'," Kara explained.

"They really are annoying," Laura agreed. "You are always welcome to shelter yourselves in my office. I assume I'll see you tonight at the party."

"Of course you will. There's no away I'll miss the festivities of the fifth anniversary of our arrival," she stated. "Plus everyone will be there."

"Mommy says it will be fun," Lily told her grandmother.

"Listen, Bill and I were thinking and we wouldn't mind having the kids over tonight after we leave the party," Laura said. "That way you and Lee could stay longer in there."

"That would be great," she agreed. "But are you sure you don't mind? I mean, if you want to stay there 'till the end…"

"We're too old for that," the older woman stated. "We'll stay with them gladly. Plus, tomorrow is Saturday. You get to party all night long if you want."

Kara laughed. "I doubt I'll be able to party all night long. But, the kids are all yours." She turned to her youngest daughter. "Do you want to stay with Grandma and Grandpa tomorrow?"

"Yes!" she replied.

The bell rang. "I guess you need to go now," Laura stated. "I'll see you tonight."

"Yeah," Kara agreed. "Tonight."

She left the room with Lily holding her hand and walked outside of the school, where Zak and Kacey would be meeting her. The hallways were filled with children running to the playground or to meet their parents.

Outside, Jane was waiting for JJ. Right after they had arrived to Earth, Sam and Jane had gotten married, moved to new Delphi and opened a bar, which they named _Toasters'_ as a joke. One year later and a half later, JJ became a big sister after Jane gave birth to another little girl, Kim. Currently, their third kid was on the way.

"Hi Auntie Janie," Lily greeted her.

"Hey you two," she said. "Picking up the kids?"

"Yep," Kara replied. "So, let's talk about important stuff. Is the bar ready for the party tonight?"

"We've got enough booze in there to put the whole city in an alcoholic coma," Jane stated. "I hope you guys don't mind not having me as a bartender." She said, pointing her overgrown stomach. "Sam's all overprotective. Barely lets me move a muscle."

"Relax, Jane. Only four more months to go," Kara told her. "So, do you know the gender already."

"No. The doctor says the baby is shy and had his or hers legs crossed," she stated. "Sam's praying for a boy. He loves the girls but he needs a little more testosterone in the house."

"What's 'testerone'?" Lily inquired.

"Nothing, honey. Boy stuff," Kara replied.

"Yuck," the little girl commented.

Kara laughed. "She's still in the phase when she thinks all boys are gross," she told Jane. "All except Zak."

"Well, Katie definitely does not have that problem, she acts like she's one of them," her friend stated playfully. "Always playing pyramid with Sam and watching sports on TV. Not that I'm complaining. As long as she's happy…"

"You'll always have Kim to play dress up," Kara joked.

"I don't play dress up," Jane said defensively.

"Mum!" they heard Kacey call. She was running in their direction along with Hera, her long blond hair flowing after her.

"What's the hurry?" Kara asked them.

"It's Friday," she simply said. Like most kids her age, Friday was Kacey's favorite day of the week – the bridge to weekend.

"Where's your brother?" Kara asked Kacey.

"Dunno," she answered. "Can I stay late at the party tonight? Please?"

"Don't even think of it, Kace," Kara stated. "You're not even nine years-old. Ask me again when you're twelve. Tonight you leave at ten."

Kacey huffed and sat on a bench a few feet away with her best friend.

"From ten forward it is time for the parents to get smashed," Jane whispered to Kara.

"Amen," she replied also in a low voice. "It's always good to be friends with a couple of bar owners. Free drinks all around."

"Free drinks my ass," Jane told her. "Do you think we own a money pool?"

"That would be a great image," Kara laughed.

"_I'm the best at it. Daddy says I am!"_ they heard the familiar voice of a girl say a few feet away.

"_No! I am. Mommy says so," _another voice said, this time it was a boy.

Kara turned around and saw JJ and Zak glaring at each other as they walked in their direction. "What is it now?"

"Mommy, who's the bestest ever at Pyramid? Me or JJ?" Zak asked her.

"None of you, I am the best," Kara told him smirking.

"Mommy!" he said annoyed.

"How can I possibly know? I never saw you playing against each other," his mother said.

"I did and JJ wiped the floor with Zak," Kacey pointed out, rejoining them.

"See?" JJ asked him. "I'm the best."

"Are not!"

"Am too!"

"Are not!"

"Am too!"

"Hey, stop it you two," Jane said. "Or no party tonight, Katie!"

"The same goes for you, Zak," Kara agreed. "No party and no making fun of Hotdog."

"Hotdog's kind of dumb," Hera said. "He's afraid of his girlfriend."

"Kat's nice but when she gets mad…" Kacey said.

"Enough talking, my people," Kara suggested. "We have houses to get to."

"And parties to prepare," Jane added, turning around. "Come on, JJ. Daddy's waiting for us. See you guys later."

Before she followed her mother, JJ turned to Zak and mouthed: "I'm the bestest."

He glared at her in return. These two were very good friends but at least once a week, they would start bickering at each other for some random reason. This week was pyramid. However, their fights only lasted a few hours, rarely over six. Kara imagined by the time the party started they would have already forgotten the reason for the fight.

"There's Dad," Hera said, waving at her father, who was parking the car by the sidewalk. When he stopped, she climbed in the backseat.

"Hey, Helo," Kara said when he opened the window. "Just arrived from the base?"

"Yeah, loads of work." Helo was one of the many people from Galactica who still worked for the military. He was a flight instructor in a nearby base. Sharon had dropped the military, dedicating herself to their ever-growing family and worked a few days a week in Sam and Jane's bar.

"Okay, I hope to see you tonight at the party," she said.

"I can't wait to see everyone. I heard Hotdog knocked Kat up and she kicked his ass in return. Racetrack told me she's impossible these days for being grounded. A lot worse than you were," Helo said.

"Oh, poor Kat," Kara said, pretending to feel bad for her old rival. "No drinks for her tonight. Your wife is a lucky bitch for being a cylon and being able to drink while she's pregnant."

"You can't have everything," he told her. He looked at his watch. "I've got to go. She has an appointment in half an hour."

"Okay, bye," Kara waved him goodbye. She turned to the kids. "The first one to arrive the car can go in the front seat," she told them, knowing she'd beat them all.

--

The rest of the afternoon passed quickly and sooner than anyone could register it was time for the party. Lee was watching TV with Lily sitting in his lap.

"Is that you and Mommy, Daddy?" the little girl asked, pointing at the Television.

I another special broadcasting program about the arrivals of the Colonials, Lee could see himself and Kara taking their first steps on Earth.

"Yep, that's us," he confirmed.

"Who's the girl and the baby?" Lily asked.

"Kacey and Zak," Lee told her.

"What about me?" she asked.

"You were still very small, Lil. You were in Mommy's tummy," he explained.

"How'd I get there?" she asked.

"No idea, Sweetheart," he told her, avoiding further explanations.

"Liar," he heard his wife whispering in his ear.

He looked up and saw her standing behind the couch.

"You love me, anyway," he said.

"Yes, I do," she confirmed. "It's like a disease."

"It is always so nice to hear you saying stuff like that," he said as he got up. "Time to leave," he yelled so Kacey and Zak would hear him upstairs.

It took them only a few minutes to arrive to the party in the city park, which was already covered in familiar faces: Racetrack drinking with her ECO, Skulls; the Chief and Cally talking to Fugurski; Hotdog bantering with other pilots.

"I wonder if this will get fuller because it is the fifth anniversary," Kara said.

"Probably," Lee stated.

They parked in front of _Toaster'_, which was right in front of the city park and entered the bar. Tigh and the Old Man were playing pool in a corner as Laura talked to Billy and Dee in one of the tables. Boxey, who was working in the bar that night along with his new girlfriend, Sarah, was cleaning cups behind the counter.

"Gradpa!" Lily shouted and ran to her grandfather.

"There's my little Lily," the Old Man said.

"Took you long enough to get here," Tigh told Kara and Lee.

"You never told us to get here earlier," Lee said.

"He assumed it was implied," Billy told them. "Gave me and Dee the same speech."

"You're the Mayor, Billy," Sam yelled from the backroom. "People expect you to inaugurate stuff."

"Long time no see, Boss. When did you two arrive from your vacations together?" Lee asked Billy and Dee with a smirk. Dee was finally back in good terms with Lee and Kara. People barely remembered that a long time ago, Dualla used to be married to Lee.

"We didn't go on vacations together," Dee shot back. "We just happened to go to on vacations to the same destination and casually ended up in the same hotel."

"…and the same room," Kara murmured, receiving a glare from Dualla.

Billy and Dee's relationship was complicated. Never once since their reunion did they admit they were a couple again. Of course everyone was aware that the meetings between the Mayor and his spokeswoman, who happened to be Dualla, didn't last over three hours because of the talking…

"Anyway, I already miss the beach," Billy said.

"I heard the beached in the Caribbean are wonderful," Laura said. "Maybe I'll convince Bill to go there next year," she said loud enough for him to hear.

"Or maybe I'll surprise you before this year ends," the former Admiral told his wife.

"So, you look pretty pale for someone who came from such a sunny destination, don't you Billy?" Kara asked. "Something caused you to be stuck in bed? A food poison, maybe?"

"I'm sure there must be some law to arrest people who bug the Mayor, Starbuck," Dee warned her.

The door of the bar opened and Helo appeared, helping a heavily pregnant Sharon entering the room. Hera and her little brother and sister, Karl Jr. and Penelope, followed them inside.

"Are you having twins again?" Boxey asked.

"No!" she shouted. "Why does everyone keep asking that?"

"Because you're huge," he told her.

"I'm eight months pregnant, of course I'm huge," Sharon shot back as Helo helped her sit in one of the chairs.

"She's hormonal, don't take anything she says personally," Helo warned everyone in the room.

"I'll give you hormonal," she said through her teeth.

"Well, I guess we're going outside for a while," Kara said. Sharon was about to say something but Kara interrupted her. "Don't worry; I'll watch KJ and Penny."

"And Hera," Sharon added. "God knows the stuff she and Kacey can pull when they're together."

"I'll keep that in mind," Kara promised, laughing.

She exited the bar, followed by Lee and all the kids. Outside, there were a lot more people than when she had came in. Everyone looked cheerful, happy. They all shared a past back when their home was a fleet of spaceships. Now, they had families and actual homes.

A few cylons could be seen here and there: those who had decided to integrate themselves in the human society. D'Anna was among them; currently she was helping the humans developing their technology using the cylon knowledge.

Kids were running around everywhere. Lily, Penelope and Karl Jr. had been joined by Kim, Sam and Jane's second daughter and Charlie, the Tyrol's youngest. Kacey and Hera were picking at Hotdog, like they always did.

In one of the tables outside, Gaeta, Racetrack, Hoshi and Skulls were playing triad, like the old times, except now they were actually betting money instead of food or clothes. A very pissed off Kat was dragging Hotdog behind her nearby.

"Don't even think of drinking," Kara heard Kat telling him. "If I can't drink, neither can you."

"But baby…" Hotdog pleaded, "we're in a party."

"It's bad enough I can't fly and you can!"

For the first time in her life, Kara actually felt sorry for Hotdog. Kat's pregnancy was really making her bitchy…er.

At some point, Sam and Jane had snuck out of the bar and were currently slow dancing a few feet away. He told her something and she started laughing. They were really made for each other.

Lee came behind his and surprised her by kissing her neck. "Things are pretty good now, aren't they?"

"Dear gods you almost gave me a heart attack," she told him.

"You should be used to it by now," he told her with a grin in his face. "But as I said before, our lives look great right now."

"Yeah," Kara agreed. "We came a long way since the time when you and I barely managed to stay in the same room without strangling each other."

"That was an improvement," Lee joked. "But we ended up married, with kids and a porch swing."

"We don't have a porch swing," she told him confused.

"We do now, I had the guys from the store installing it right after we left the house," he told her. "When you got really drunk because of that raider, Scar, you made a joke about porch swings, marriage and kids. Now we have all that."

Kara's mind drifted to the memory of that evening, long before she considered the possibility of ever having a bright shinny future with Lee.

"_Can you actually picture you...you actually...yourself...picture you...with a wife?"Kara inquired and they laughed, "...with a wife and a kid and a porch swing, 'cause the gods know you would have a little porch swing."_

"_You know, I thought about it once," he replied._

_She started laughing. "You're kidding."_

"_Yeah," he murmured._

"_You wanted a little stinky rugrat?" she asked in disbelief._

"_I thought it might be nice. Teach the little kid to swim, play pyramid__," he said._

But that was before Kara had met Kacey and realized the she could actually be a mom. That kids were not a curse like her mother had told her, but a gift. And then, Lee did it. He became a dad and she became a mom.

"Little did I know that I would be the mother of your little stinky rugrats," she told her husband.

"Lucky you," Lee joked.

"Lucky _you_," she corrected him. They laughed together for a while and just stood there, his arm covering her shoulders.

"Wanna get married again?" Lee suggested out of the blue.

"Sure. Why not? But not right now," she told him. "What's the rush? We have all the time in the frakking universe to enjoy this bright shinny future."

Lee smiled and kissed his wife again. She was right; they had all the time in the universe.

**THE END**

**A/N: It's done! I hope you liked it. i know maybe this was cheesy but for all they went through, these guys needed a happy ending. Give me your last reviews, it's your last chance. **

**So, about my next story. It will be called "New Caprican Sunrise" and I'm not sure if I'll be able to post it this week because I'm going to my aunt's house and I'm not sure if she has wireless internet... Anyway, it starts in the time the fleet is settled in New Caprica and it is also Lee/Kara romance. I also want to include several flashbacks to rach the origins of Lee and Kara's relationship and their own past. **

**Thank you, my readers for all the wonderful reviews. Believe me, I wouldn't have came this far without your words of encouragement. A special thanks to my sisters (Maggie, Annie and Bells) who were my betas and made sure to point out all things that needed to be worked.**


End file.
